Be smart and don’t get a phone addiction A

WOMEN won the vote 100 years ago and the achievement will be marked by a mass participation event called Processions that will take place in London, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh this weekend.

That initial victory was not complete, however. Only 40% of women got the vote because it was restricted to those over 30 who were property owners or married to a property owner.

Even so, it was an important step forward for the suffragette movement that led to full voting rights 10 years later.

Coincidentally, film mogul Harvey Weinstein appeared in a New York court this week charged with rape and sexual assault as a result of courageous women lifting the lid on the way powerful men in showbusiness have for decades abused their position in coercing sexual favours from reluctant victims.

His downfall inspired the MeToo movement that has ended careers and caused ructions and a serious reconsideration of what is acceptable behaviour.

So far so good, except that also this week the chief executive of Qatar Airways declared at an international conference that his job could not be done by a woman. “Of N American department of health has warned people not to sleep with their smartphone and to keep it away from their body as much as possible for fear of causing illness and reproductive issues.

This could be a worry for those who have grown up in this digital age, for whom such a device is an essential part of life. It does not have the same grip on me. I grew up with a large Bakelite phone anchored to the hall table and a four digit number: “Six four one seven. To whom do you wish to speak?”

Research says we tap, type and swipe our smartphone more than 2,600 times a day. A figure I find hard to believe. You’d wear your finger out. Then I saw my 13-yearold grandson with his and realised it would be possible, except his parents restrict its use and frequently have to prise it from his desperately clutching fingers.

Other research suggests using a phone releases feelgood dopamine into the brain, providing a series of highs with each call, or like, or message. Pretty soon, addiction can set in. So it’s not your fault.

Now 41m people aged between 16 and 75 in the UK have a smartphone and 38% of them think they use them too much. A massive 56% of those aged between 16 and 26 concede their usage is over the top.

Makers are aware of the problem and some course it has to be led by a man because it is a very challenging position.”

Women can run countries but not, apparently, an airline.

And we still have Donald Trump in the White House, who has never been slow at coming forward when there is a female who takes his fancy.

He retains the presidency of the US despite being a bad male joke who has been accused by many women of sexual assault and molestation.

Still some way to go, sisters. Remember, the suffragettes and keep fighting. phones now come with a hush facility: place them face down and you are out of contact. And Apple this week announced software to help customers limit their phone time by setting personal limits which bring warnings if they are in danger of over-use. Parents will also be able to receive reports on the smartphone activity of their children.

All the precautions sound sensible. We are stuck with the things so let’s make their use as safe as possible. My phone is used mainly to order takeaway food and I carry it in the front pocket of my jeans but, at my age, I think I am precluded from concerns over reproductive issues. Younger people might think differently.

As well as amazement at their technology, they also provide me with the most amusement when I hear a ringtone in public and discover a chum has a passion for Ride of the Valkyries, while another has a fire alarm that gets progressively louder and can clear a pub if left unattended.

Then there is the friend who has that old, brassy ring of the traditional Bakelite telephone from the hall table that always takes me by surprise:

“Six four one seven. To whom do you wish to speak?”