Local WhatsApp group started by two mothers concerned about online safety attracts more than 4,000 members

More than 4,000 parents have joined a group committed to barring young children from having smartphones, as concerns grow about online safety and the impact of social media on mental health.

The WhatsApp group Smartphone Free Childhood was created by the former school friends Clare Fernyhough and Daisy Greenwell in response to their fears around children’s smartphone use and the “norm” of giving children smart devices when they go to secondary school.

“I’ve got a seven- and nine-year-old. Daisy’s got kids of a similar age and we were both feeling really horrified and worried and just didn’t want them to have smartphones at 11, which seems to be the norm now.”

Fernyhough and Greenwell hoped the movement would embolden parents to delay giving their children smartphones until at least 14, with no social media access until 16.

But what they expected to be a small group of friends who help “empower each other” has turned into a nationwide campaign after the group reached the 1,000-person capacity within 24 hours of Greenwell uploading an Instagram post to promote it.

  • Alex@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    These black and white solutions are not tenable. My eldest got a phone when they moved up to secondary school. It’s a useful tool for keeping in touch with their friends especially when most people don’t have landlines any more. Their generation is growing up as digital natives and I don’t think holding them back from phones will help them in the long run.

    We do limit what apps can be installed though. They certainly want TikTok but so far we’ve said no and YouTube is only available on the family TV. So far they have not expressed any interest in getting access to social media although I do have to occasionally unblock Facebook because some of the homework links to videos on the site.

    I know I’m probably in the minority in having enough digital skills to erect some barriers against the worst of the internet but I’m very much aware they will set it eventually. My hope is we’ve done enough to prepare them for that by the time the training wheels come off.