Last May, parents and teachers in Greystones, County Wicklow, launched a town-wide ‘no-smartphone code’ to tackle the rise of smartphones being used by primary school students. The concept stemmed from conversations between parents who were regularly feeling pressure from their children to purchase a smartphone. By setting up the code, the town removed the peer pressure element of kids feeling like they are missing out if they don’t have a device. “It has completely solved the problem,” said Christina Capatina, a Greystones parent, eight months since the voluntary ban came into effect.
The success of Greystones’ no-smartphone code has now become the blueprint for the Irish government’s smartphone ban in schools. On 7 November, ministers in the Irish cabinet approved new guidelines on the use of phones in schools to help parents collectively implement smartphone bans, with government support. Ministers are also looking at imposing a ban on the sale of smartphones to children under primary school age.
According to research, concerns around children’s mental health over smartphone use are justified. In a 2020 systematic review of academic studies that investigated smartphones, social media use, and the mental health of children and adolescents, it found that mental distress and treatment for mental health issues had risen in parallel with the use of smartphones by children. Greystones parents are now setting an example by allowing children to wait until they are 12 years old, when they start secondary school, to own a smartphone.
Despite the code being voluntary, it has received a lot of support from parents who felt the pressure to give their children smartphones; the norm of being phoneless in the town is now being created. While some people in the media argue that the code demonises technology, the headteacher of St. Patrick’s School, Rachel Harper, strongly disagrees. “We’re not against technology. We’re not against phones. We’re just simply asking them to wait till secondary school.”
Read the full article on Positive News here: Read More