I worry about my children and the internet, says Dermot Bannon
DERMOT Bannon has told of his concern at the challenges posed by the internet for children – particularly social media.
The architect, who is the face of Vodafone’s internet services in a major advertising campaign, revealed that neither of his sons is yet allowed a smartphone.
His 14-year-old daughter is the only one of Bannon’s three children who is allowed her own device.
However the Room To Improve star admitted he constantly worries about how his teenage daughter Sarah will cope with what she sees and reads online.
Sarah is only allowed the phone for homework research and to Facetime friends but Mr Bannon said he is only too aware of the damaging effect that social media can have.
He said: ‘It’s a really difficult one. My daughter is very social. She’s out all the time. She meets up with her friends. She does her homework.
‘It’s the social media end of it that concerns me. I know how social media can make all of us anxious. We have to make sure they have a good sense of their own self-worth.
‘All we can do is give them the confidence and security to deal with the comments or whatever.
‘The kids have seen the attention I get on social media and they have seen how I react. You can get some amazing comments and also some horrendous stuff.
‘You don’t believe the good or the bad – and they see that.’
He admitted to feelings of ‘dad guilt’ as he sees other fathers posting to social media pictures of themselves spending time with their children.
Mr Bannon said: ‘It’s just the pressures of life and work and maybe social media where you see dads out with their kids all the time. Maybe they’re not even out with their kids all the time; maybe they’re just taking photos and going home again.’
He said limiting his children’s screen use can be the source of many battles at home.
Mr Bannon said he and wife Louise try to place limits on their children’s screen time. But essential household chores get in the way.
He revealed he was forced to take drastic measures as his eldest son, James, was playing the player-versus-player game Fortnite too often on his games console.
Mr Bannon said: ‘I banned the Xbox for a month and he gave up Fortnite because of it. He realised how addictive it was. It was cold turkey. I had the Xbox in the boot of the car for a month and I drove around with it.
‘The amount of parents who said, “Oh, yeah, we bring ours into work with us in the morning.” They’ve all done it.
‘After a month he got his Xbox back and he hasn’t played Fortnite since.’
A recent survey found that just one hour a day on social media is enough to reduce the happiness of children, with girls feeling the effects more than boys.
Researchers at the UK’s Royal Economic Society found that the longer children spend chatting on Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp and Instagram the less happy they feel about a number of aspects of their lives.
These include school work, school in general, appearance, family and life overall.
Girls were more adversely affected, experiencing a greater impact on how they felt about their appearance and their school life, the study found.
Mr Bannon’s comments come weeks after the damaging effects of mobile phones on the academic performance of Irish children were laid bare in a study by the Economic and Social Research Institute.
Its research found pupils who own a phone at the age of nine are weaker than their peers at reading and maths by the age of 13.
Professor Selina McCoy of the ESRI recently told the Mail that children with access to mobile phones at an early age may have their learning abilities eroded due to sleep deprivation.
‘Some horrendous comments’