Smartphones are going to be banned for primary school children in Greystone, a town in Ireland. Parents of children from eight primary schools have come together to call for the ban. Parents say that this restriction has been brought in for safety and to prevent them from watching content that is not suitable for them.
The purpose of making the rules is also to help in taking care of the mental health of children, which is sometimes caused by the use of social media. This code is separate from the rules banning smartphones being used in schools. Children will not be allowed smartphones until they reach secondary school.
Phone should be banned in school, at home, everywhere
Parents Association wants that phones should be banned in school, at home, everywhere. Laura Bourne, a mother of a young child, said: ‘If everyone followed this rule it would be a lot easier to say no. The longer we can preserve the innocence of children, the better. Parents launched the initiative last month amid concerns that smartphones were exposing children to adult content.
childhood getting shorter and shorter
Rachel Harper, principal of St Patrick’s School, said: ‘Childhood is getting shorter and shorter. Earlier nine-year-olds used to ask for smartphones, but now even younger children are doing so. Harper said that “parents can present the town-wide policy code to their children as school rules.” He also told that this code is voluntary.
Problems like obesity, loss of appetite, irritability
According to experts, excessive use of mobile is changing the lifestyle of children, due to which problems like obesity, loss of appetite, irritability are coming to the fore. By spending more time in front of the virtual world i.e. screen, children do not spend much time in sports, physical activity, interacting with people and learning many skills that are useful in life.
Mental development is being affected by the phone
It has also been revealed in many researches that by handing over the phone to children at an early age, their mental development i.e. mental development is affected. In March 2022, India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT reported in Parliament that 24% of children in India check smartphones before sleeping and 37% of children struggle with concentration.