Child expert in UK calls for smartphone ban for U-11s

SMARTPHONES should be banned for children under 11 years of age a leading psychiatrist has warned as new research shows they are making children depressed and anxious.

New research has revealed a link between a rise in depression, particularly among women aged 1624, and the boom in the popularity of smartphones around a decade ago, fuelled by cyberbullying, body image issues and dangerous material promoting self-harm and eating disorders.

Children who spend more than two hours a day on social media are more likely to become depressed and anxious, new research from Dr Jon Goldin, vicechairman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ child and adolescent faculty in the UK, and his colleagues has shown.

Goldin has now called on the UK government to issue official guidance to parents, warning them of the dangers associated with the use of smartphones among children under the age of 11, which he believes would help mothers and fathers resist their children’s demands for the latest phone model. ‘Much more than two hours [online] becomes problematic,’ Dr Goldin said.

It is understood that 15% of youngsters in Ireland are now spending more than three hours a day staring at their handsets.

‘Children often say to their parents, “All my friends are [getting phones] and you are not allowing me to do that”,’ Dr Goldin told The Daily Telegraph.

‘I don’t think we can legislate but this guidance would back parents up when they are having conversations with their ten-year-olds.’

Dr Goldin’s calls for government guidance in the UK comes after the Irish Daily Mail launched its campaign for a legislative ban on younger children having smartphones.

More than 1,000 citizens have signed up to this paper’s campaign calling on the Government to set a minimum age for smartphone ownership in Ireland.