HARRIS: PARENTS NEED OUR SUPPORT ON SMARTPHONES

Health Minister hails pioneering Co. Kerry school for enforcing ban and praises Mail’s campaign to protect our children from devices

SIMON Harris has praised the Irish Daily Mail’s campaign for an age limit on smartphones.

The Health Minister has also hailed the leadership at a Co. Kerry school for taking a stand against the perils of the devices by banning pupils from using smartphones – both in the classroom and at home. Mr Harris this weekend commended the efforts of Blennerville National

School, close to Tralee in Co. Kerry, after it decided to ban smartphones and social media apps, both during and after school.

When asked by the Mail what he thought of their efforts, Minister Harris said: ‘I want to commend the leadership of the school in Kerry, where you had teachers, parents and students come together to try and protect our younger people in relation to smartphones.’

Mr Harris acknowledged that the debate surrounding children and smartphones is currently a ‘very sensitive issue’ and he said it is important to support parents when making decisions for their children.

‘I know this is a very sensitive issue and it is an issue that many parents have been listening to in the media saying that they feel there is pressure to give your younger child a phone,’ he added.

‘And as Health Minister, I want to see our younger kids out and about, taking exercise and enjoying life, playing out in the roads, playing in the estates, not obviously glued to an iPhone.

‘Technology can be great, but it’s important that as a community we support parents in making those decisions.

‘I think the Irish Daily Mail’s campaign in relation to this has been great, and I think it is about collaborative community leadership like we have seen in Kerry.’

The Mail’s ‘Protect Our Kids Online’ campaign has been highlighting the many dangers and threats that social media and digital devices such as smartphones can pose to children.

This paper is also running a petition – which has attracted 2,000 supportive signatures – calling on the Government to introduce a minimum age for smartphone ownership. This was recently presented to the embattled Communications Minister, Denis Naughten.

Education Minister Richard Bruton is set to issue a circular to all schools in the coming weeks, ordering that parents, pupils and staff consult on their smartphone policies. He outlined that this will be included in the Parent Student Charter Bill and he is asking for the consultation to take in how they will regulate web-enabled devices during school hours.

However, Fianna Fáil’s education spokesman Thomas Byrne called on the minister to introduce a ban on phones in all schools up to Junior Cert level. And he hit out at Mr Bruton’s proposal, describing it as ‘wishy-washy’.

Junior minister Brendan Griffin has also hailed the efforts of the school in Kerry, the area where he was elected a TD.

In recent days, he told the Mail that he intends to raise their move with Mr Bruton this week.

‘I said I will be talking to Minister Bruton next week about what you have done here, about encouraging that approach and I think only positives can come from that,’ he said.

Mr Griffin said the Kerry primary school was an example that ‘you don’t have to wait for the State to do something’ and that individual communities ‘can help themselves here, and can do what they feel is appropriate in relation to their own cases’.

Parents at the Co. Kerry school have already reported noticing improvements in their children’s performance and moods, with many saying the youngsters have been showing a renewed interest in family time, outside activities, sport or communal games.

A Irish Daily Mail/Ireland Thinks poll published in January found 69% of people support a smartphone ban for under-16s, with 30% against and 1% having no opinion on the matter.

Last week, Blennerville National School began an 11-week pilot programme after discovering that explicit content on some messaging groups was being circulated between pupils aged 11 and 12.

Parents of the children were left shocked by the adult material their children were viewing.

‘They were very taken aback and surprised with what was going on,’ Terry O’Sullivan, the school’s principal, said.

The explicit comments and content appeared in Snapchat and Instagram group messages had shocked teachers and parents, he said. After a meeting, parents and pupils agreed that children won’t use smartphones or social media applications on any devices or computers outside school hours.

Mr O’Sullivan said he’s seen firsthand the damage that unsupervised access to the internet can have on children.

He also warned that while 11- and 12-year-old children were involved in using the apps, the age of children using smartphones was lowering all the time.

Following the controversy, Blennerville teachers and parents said they would meet again after 11 weeks to see the extent to the change in the behaviour of pupils at the school who have been weaned off the devices.

‘We are not anti-iPads. You have to embrace the digital era. We use iPads here in school… But they must be monitored, they must be supervised,’ Mr O’Sullivan said.

Mr O’Sullivan said in years to come this era would be looked

‘Mail’s campaign has been great’ ‘Only positives can come from that’

back on as a very dangerous one for children.

Last week, Mr O’Sullivan said that he would be delighted to sit down with the Education Minister, and tell Mr Bruton exactly what it’s like to be a teacher dealing with issues arising from smartphones on the frontline.

‘I would invite the Minister for Education to come to our school and listen to parents and teachers on the frontline,’ he said. ‘He needs to see what I’m seeing, a lot of people do not realise the extent of what is going on.’

The Mail has previously reported how principals across the country were calling for tougher action on smartphones. Every principal interviewed by this newspaper has said that they had to deal with the negative effects of smartphones on a regular basis.

Earlier this month Mr Bruton became the first Fine Gael minister to take concrete action on phones, saying he would require every school in the country to come up with a smartphone policy. Within a week, however, Fianna Fáil had upped the ante by backing teachers in calling for a simple national ban on smartphones in all schools up to Junior Cert.

Growing numbers of doctors and psychiatrists have also publicly supported smartphone age limits. On Friday, parenting guru Dr David Coleman expressed his support for the Blennerville School’s smartphone ban.

However Communications Minister Mr Naughten has refused to accept the need for action on smartphones or to debate the need for legislation in this area.

‘They must be monitored’