Gloucestershire parents join smartphone-free childhood movement

Many studies are being conducted at national and international levels to measure the impact of smartphone and social media use on young people.

Preliminary results from a study by King’s College London suggest that long-term use can lead to sleep disruption, increased anxiety and depression, and addictive behaviours such as constantly thinking about smartphones and social media.

Phone use can also have a negative impact on other areas of a person’s life, and a person who continues to use their smartphone even when their finger, hand, or neck starts to hurt.

Ben Carter is Professor of Medical Statistics at King’s College.

He believes that in the coming decades we will view children’s smartphone use in a similar way to how society currently views smoking.

“I think in 10 years we’ll have a better understanding, we’ll be able to look back and reflect on how we used (smartphones) and say, ‘Why did we do that?'” he added.

“We can compare it to other behavioral addictions. In the 1950s, smoking was used for medicinal purposes. Now it’s stigmatized and seen as a part of society that we’re trying to eliminate completely.”

The government said in a statement that creating a “safer online world” was a “priority”.

The spokesman added: “Ofcom has set out the proposed steps that companies will have to take to protect children on their platforms under the Internet Safety Act, including using highly effective age checks and changing algorithms to filter out harmful content.”