‘Remove child’s phone at night – and buy them an alarm clock’

PARENTS SHOULD take their children’s smartphones away from them at night and instead buy them a cheap alarm clock, an expert has said.

Professor Adam Joinson said he and his 17-year-old son had endless fights about the teenager’s smartphone being in his bedroom at night but he was banned until he turned 18.

He said teenagers lacked the cognitive skills to realise that staying up all night using a smartphone would mean they were tired for school the next day.

Prof Joinson, whose work at the University of Bath focuses on cyber-security and behaviour, said smartphones should not be the last thing they see at night and the first thing they see in the morning.

“There is not a vast amount of evidence for this, but parents should take the phones off their kids at night. Store the charger downstairs and buy cheap alarm clocks,” he said.

“I did it with my 17-yearold. It causes endless fights but otherwise he will be on it all night. Young people do not have the ability until they are in their 20s to fully understand consequences of actions now tomorrow.

“This is a basic developmental thing and cognitively they cannot do it. They won’t say ‘I better not stay on my phone all night otherwise I’ll be exhausted tomorrow’.

“As parents we have a responsibility of care. Generally, I think parents are remiss if they allow their kids to keep phones in their bedrooms.”

Prof Joinson, who was speaking at an event at the Cheltenham Science Festival discussing whether technology was bad for you, said one way of people digitally detoxing was to leave their phones downstairs. He said it was still too early to say what damage could be potentially caused by modern technology.