Three Wicklow parents’ groups team up to look at smartphone ban for primary school-aged children

THE community-led initiative, which had a huge impact on smartphone use when it was first introduced in primary schools in Greystones and Delgany, is now being considered for national schools in the Enniskerry and Curtlestown areas by parents’ associations who are growing increasingly concerned at the negative impacts of smartphones on their children’s well-being, as well as their inability to deal with them.

The It Takes a Village campaign was spearheaded last year by Rachel Harper, principal of St Patrick’s National School, in Greystones, to initially prompt a conversation around the unprecedented levels of anxiety among children as young as 10, but quickly gathered pace to the extent that it informed Government guidelines on smartphone use in primary schools.

Now, the parent’s associations for St Mary’s and St Gerard’s NS, Enniskerry Powerscourt NS and St Patrick’s, Curtlestown, have organised a public information meeting for parents on Tuesday, March 5, to discuss the effects of smart devices on children and how to navigate the digital world with the right tools.

Guests on the evening include Rachel Harper, Cybersafe Kids, Georgina Flynn (former Facebook employee), and Dominique McMullan, from Image.

Jemma Bernon, from the parents’ association, said the schools would like to implement a similar policy to that of the It Takes a Village group, but to also educate parents and help them monitor access to their children’s devices and give them the confidence to start a conversation around the digital space.

As a a parent herself, Gemma said that it is a positive thing “to get people engaged on the issue”.

“I’d rather get ahead of this, than be reacting to it in the moment. Our kids, when they get older, they’re going to be so much better and they’re going to run rings around us,” she said.

“So, if we can try and learn about good practices, instead of saying ‘no phones at all’, which is not realistic, and have some parental control and be proactive and put in place safe protocols. Do we use monitoring apps, check our kids’ messages?

“It’s the practical stuff that we need to come out of it,” she said.

The parents would like to see a uniform policy on smartphones rolled out across the three schools, so the input from the guests on the evening – particularly Rachel Harper who has first-hand experience at her own school – will be invaluable to allow the parents’ associations to make a collective decision.

“We need to go further than simply, ‘not bringing the phones to schools’,” Gemma said. “If they’re going home and they’re connecting to Snapchat, and that’s how they’re communicating with one another, maybe it’s an idea to look at having a non-smartphone? it’s not so much the screen time, it’s the issue of access where they can go off and be unmonitored.”

Gemma also points to the worrying rise of anxiety among children, which provided the initial spark for the project, when she gives an example of a child who wakes up to the pressure of “35 snapchats” to deal with before they even start their day.

“We can’t bury our heads in the sand, she added. “We need to try and get ahead of it. So, wouldn’t it be great if there was some sort of toolkit, to tell parents, ‘Okay, here are things that you can do.’.”

The free information evening takes place at the Summerhill House Hotel, Tuesday, March 5, at 8pm.