Should smartphones be removed from the school environment?
Smartphone-Free Childhood (SFC) has allowed South African parents to join one another in the fight against children having smartphones before they enter high school.
Parents have found themselves on the fence and have had to make difficult decisions regarding smartphones.
"Either we allow our children access to devices and social media, which are proven to harm healthy development, or we risk alienating them from their peers." (SFC SA)
Smartphone-Free Childhood (SFC), South Africa's first-ever voluntary digital parent pact, allows parents to regain control over letting their children be kids. The SFC is designed to help parents stand up for their rights and not expose their kids to social media and the smartphone culture before they reach high school.
The SFC are saying that children who start using a smartphone at a younger age expose themselves to mental health issues. Even Prince Harry has introduced the topic of the effects of technology on our youth.
Rates of depression, anxiety and suicide in young people have soared since 2010, when children first began receiving smartphones. Today’s young adults (18-24-year-olds) are the first generation to have gone through adolescence with this technology. The data shows that the younger they were when they received their first smartphone, the worse their mental health is today. With alarming statistics revealing that 62% of South African learners have access to a phone or tablet by age 10, the urgency for action is undeniable.
The SFC allows like-minded parents to sign an online pact that helps them press pause on smartphones for their kids until high school (at the very least). A minimum of ten parents from one primary school signing the pact unlocks the pact for that group of parents.
This allows that group to join forces for this common cause in the community and gives parents the confidence to feel less pressured to give in to the smartphone generation.
"SFC is part of the global “Smartphone-Free Childhood” initiative, founded in the United Kingdom in March and supported by over 100,000 parents in more than 60 countries." (IOL)
Childline KZN supports the cause. Adeshini Naicker (the director) said that there are several disadvantages associated with using smartphones from a young age. Apart from reduced face-to-face interactions, increased screen time, which may harm physical well-being, and the threat of cyberbullying or exposing kids to online predators, there's the disruption of a child being a child.
Hearing Wellness and trauma therapist Jaishiela Kooverjee's view on the topic was interesting. As much as she understood the value of the pact, she questioned the practicality of enforcing it.
I fully support the idea of no smartphones before high school, but what impact will such a pact really have in a world that's becoming increasingly digital? Instead, we should focus on teaching families and children how to maintain a healthy balance in their lives while introducing activities that promote brain development.
If you would like to sign the pact and join the movement to press pause on smartphones and social media for kids, visit Smartphone-Free Childhood SA here.
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