The UK government will not impose phone ban in schools. These parents took steps.

Daisy Greenwell said that Daisy Greenwell said the idea of ​​her eldest child feeling unavoidable for a long time. But early last year, when her daughter was 8 years old, she filled her with fear. When he talked to the other parents, “all universally said,” Yes, this is a bad dream, but you did not get any option, “” Ms. Greenwell, recalled 41.

He decided to test. A friend, Claire Furnahf, shared his concerns about the drug addiction properties of the smartphone and the impact of social media on mental health, so he strategically formed a WhatsApp group. Then Ms. Greenwell, who lives in Rural Safok in the east of England, Posted his views on Instagram,

“What if we can change social criteria so that in our school, our city, our country, it was a strange option to give your child a smartphone in 11,” she wrote. “What if we can catch till 14, or 16?” He added a link to the WhatsApp group.

The post went viral. Within 24 hours, the group was oversced to join with parents. Today, more than 13,000 British schools have parents of more than 124,000 children. Put signature on A treaty made by smartphone free childhood, Ms. Greenwell, her husband, Joe Rairi and Charity founded by Ms. Furnishing. It reads: “Acting in the best interests of my child and our community, I will wait till the end of the year 9 before receiving the smartphone.” (The year 9 is equivalent to American eighth grade.)

Movement aligns with one Extensive change in approach in BritainIn the form of evidence of the damage offered by smartphone’s addiction and algorithm-intensive social media to develop the brain. In one survey Last year, most respondents – 69 percent – felt that social media negatively influenced children under 15 years of age. About half of the parents said that they struggled to limit the time spent on the phone.

Meanwhile police and intelligence services The hit TV show has warned of an edge of extreme and violent materials reaching the children in a teenage tendency, which accused a school student of murder after coming in contact with online misunderstandings. It became Britain Most viewed Show, and on Monday, Prime Minister Kir Star met With its creators In Downing Street, telling them that they saw it with their son and daughter. But he also said: “This is not a challenge, politicians can only make laws for this.”

Other governments of Europe have worked to curb the use of children’s smartphones. In February, Denmark Announced plan to ban smartphones in schoolsWhereas France stopped smartphones in primary schools in 2018. Norway has planned to implement the minimum age on social media.

Till now the UK government has appeared to beware of intervening. Josh McLister, a labor legalist, tried to present a legal need to free all schools in the England smartphone. But the bill was Waterfall It would not support a ban after the government is clarified, arguing that the principals should decide.

Some parents feel that the need to work is necessary, especially as technology companies, including meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and X, East, has ended the fact-stomach operations, which will allow many experts to allow misinterpretation and hatred speech.

Vicky Ellen, a Henfield mother in southern England, said, “We don’t have years to change things.” “It seems that we need to be.”

He and a friend, Julia Cassidi, 46, saw Ms. Cassidi to limit the use of the phone to successfully campaign for his children’s primary school. Channel 4 Documentary About smartphones in schools, and then the smartphone came in free childhood. Ms. Cassidi was going to give a phone to her son when she turned 11, but said, “I have just done a huge U-turn.” Now, she is planning to give her a phone that can only be used for calls and texts.

Ms. Greenwell said that it is important to collectively delay the smartphone of parents, as it inspires children with peer pressure. “This problem is not complicated,” he said. “If you have other people around you who are doing the same thing, then it is really surprising, beautifully simple.”

‘Most people just want to protect their children’

Recently, on Friday morning, dozens of parents gathered at the Auditorium of Colindel Primary School in North London, for the presentation of Nova Eden, a regional leader for smartphone free childhood.

He described the shocking data-that the average 12-year-old spends 21 hours a week on a smartphone in Britain, for example, and that 76 percent of children aged 12– to 15 years spend most of their free time on screen. He also talked about emerging research on the impact of the use of smartphones.

Ms. Eden cited the study dramatically since the introduction of social media, showing the rate of anxiety, depression and self-loss among teenagers. “These children are struggling and they need our help,” said Ms. Eden. “I know how difficult it is, but we need those who stand and say, it’s not good for you.”

44 -year -old Ms. Eden, while struggling to find the right balance for her children, described 5, 10 and 13 years of age. He said it was Ian Russell’s campaign, whose daughter Molly took her life after seeing suicides on Instagram and other social media sites, which inspired her to join. He had given only a 13 -year -old phone.

“At that time, I was going through it with my child, and seeing a change in her and her friends,” she said.

Jane Palmer, Principal of Colindel School, admitted that some parents have suspected to limit the use of smartphones, or to ban equipment completely from the school, as it would be her school from September.

Some people argue that equipment can provide social freedom and allow them to contact their children in an emergency. Others think that parents’ control go far enough to ensure online security.

But the conversation between parents started making way for change, Ms. Palmer said. During the presentation, he explained how an alumni died of suicide after being tired of online.

“It can be difficult, and of course not everyone is going to support it,” he said about the ban. “But at the end of the day, I think most people just want to protect their children.”

Colindale is in Boro of Barnet, which announced a plan to be the first time in February Boro in Britain To ban smartphones in all your public schools. The initiative will affect some 63,000 children.

One of Britain’s most elite private schools, Eaton announced last year that new students will be Ban on By bringing a smartphone and instead it will be released with Nokia handset that can only recite and call.

In Suffolk, the founder of the smartphone Free Childhood Initiative is aware that his success in attracting parents for their reason is partly thanks to social media and messaging apps, on which he has spread the word.

“This technique has a load of positive things,” said Mr. Rairy. “We are not trying to say that technology is bad, we just need to interact as a society, when it is appropriate for children to have unrestricted access to this goods.”