Over 90% of year 6 primary school children in Stamford have a phone
The Conversation Stamford group are urging parents to sign a pledge committing to no smartphones for primary aged children
Over half of primary school children in Stamford have a phone according to a survey from the Conversation Stamford.
As part of their Cyberwise campaign, the group are urging parents to sign a pledge.
It asks parent to commit to no smartphones for primary aged children, no social media for under 13s and the use of parental controls until a child turns 16.
The aim is to protect children from viewing inappropriate content and avoid phones having a negative impact on children's mental health and wellbeing.
In the survey, 63% of primary school children said they got their smartphone before year 5 and 57% of children spent more than 2 hours a day on their phones.
We are blind to what children are seeing on their phones
Gemma Holbird, director of the group, said:
"Phones are replacing not only those creative options of play like creating things, going outside, playing sports, and hanging out with friends, but they're also inhibiting social interaction and the way that young people learn to interact with the world."
"I think we sometimes as parents are blind to what children are seeing on their phones."
"It's really easy for them to access inappropriate content, and it's also really easy for them to become addicted to those devices."
The groups research found that a significant percentage of primary aged children were accessing social media apps with age limits of 12 and above.
30% of children asked used TikTok, 32% used Snapchat and almost half of children used WhatsApp.
They don't realise the implications
Sarah Jane Sauntson, director of The Conversation Stamford said:
"We get it these apps seem really fun. There's funny videos, fun filters on your photos."
"I think a lot of children think it seems like a really fun thing to do, but they don't realise the implications."
"The main issue schools get in touch with us about is the social media videos and group chats that are causing a lot of issues amongst friendship groups."
For the next stage of the campaign the group are hosting two Zoom meetings for parents.
They will talk about their research in primary schools on how children view phones and social media as well as giving advice on how to tackle the issues.