Many children in the modern era are used to having a digital device available to them at all times – but should they be forced to give up their phones when in school?
A recent Channel 4 programme is following a group of children 12-year-old students in a school in the UK who have had all digital devices removed from them for an extended period of time.
This has reportedly seen the children’s social behaviour and classroom engagement improve as a result.
On The Anton Savage Show, CEO of CyberSafeKids Alex Cooney said that many children are given unfiltered access to the internet at too young of an age.
“I think 95% of 12-year-olds – according to our trends usage data – would have a smartphone, even eight to 10-year-olds," she said.
“You’re going to see quite a number that are more likely to have a tablet or games console.
“The age at which they get the smartphone tends to really increase at 11 – but what we see is that children have this very early access.
“They’re very young when they’re getting this first independent access and they’re not ready for it.”
English teacher in Skibbereen Conor Murphy said schools cannot take all the responsibility for solving this issue.
“We can only do so much in school – it's kind of a societal issue,” he said.
“There’s only so much that we can do in a school environment, apart from banning [devices] - because as soon as they go out of the building, they’re going to be taking and picking up the mobile phones again and go back on that merry-go-round.”
Communication
However, Mr Murphy acknowledged that taking a child's phone also meant they were unable to communicate with friends.
“That’s difficult as well because we’re kind of out in the country a little bit,” he said.
“So, neither of my children could walk to their friend’s place and have a chat with them or just go out the front and have a kick around or meet each other for a walk.
“They need their phones to communicate with their friends.
“It’s a difficult line to walk - and I know that I haven’t got it right, and I don’t know exactly how to get it right.”
Community initiatvies
Ms Cooney said that community initiatives where parents all agree to hold off on giving their children phones can make a real impact.
“We saw that through the It Takes A Village initiative in Greystones and also then in Waterford, where parents and schools were coming together and deciding together that they wanted to hold off giving smart device or giving access to certain social media,” she said.
“I think that’s such a positive move that we are coming together as a community, because you can build a community of support.”
According to Ms Cooney, it will still be a while before academic research reveals the true impacts of digital devices on children’s development.
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