Smartphone Free Childhood

Did you know that 94% of primary school parents think smartphones are harmful? (Parentkind nationwide poll April 24). As a school, we endorse the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign.

The use of smartphones is now a feature of daily life for most adults and over the last few years the age at which children are given their first smartphone has dropped significantly. Smartphones can be a very helpful piece of technology for adults, and when closely supervised and for a particular purpose, can be a fantastic tool for children. However, research shows that they can expose children to significant safeguarding risks in addition to a number of other negative implications.

Smartphone Free Childhood

Smartphones risks to children include:

  • Highly addictive, with the lasting effects on young and developing brains being similar to that of gambling.
  • Linked to poor mental health, depression and low self-esteem, especially in young teenagers.
  • Expose children to harmful content including pornography, grooming, bullying and material that is not age appropriate.
  • Reduce attention spans – they are changing the way children’s brains develop and fundamentally affecting their ability to concentrate.
  • Rob children of their childhood: time spent on a device reduces time spent playing, interacting and developing vital social skills.

Together with St Laurence Church Junior School, we ask you to delay giving your child a smartphone until the end of Year 6.  Families can sign the St Laurence Schools pact here: St Laurence Smartphone Pact

If your child needs to call or text for safety, there are a variety of ‘dumb phones’  as an alternative, and you can use gps tracker tags if you need to track your child without them needing their own smart device.

There is a growing movement across the country to change the ‘normal’ age that children are given smartphones. However, to be successful, this movement relies on you, our children’s parents, to resist the pressure from your children and their peers and hold back on giving your children smartphones.  In this way you will be working together with a wide network of parents and schools to re-set the expectation and remove social peer pressure.

If you would like to find out more about this issue, some parents have set up a St Laurence Smartphone Free Childhood WhatsApp group

There is also a West Midlands Parent Pact which you can sign up to anonymously, and see how many other parents in the local area are also delaying giving their child a smart phone.

Please remember our school does not allow children to bring in smart phones or other smart devices.

More information: