Gloucestershire parents join Smartphone Free Childhood movement

A number of studies are taking places nationally and internationally to measure the impact smartphone and social media use has on young people.

Early findings from one carried out by King’s College London suggest prolonged use can lead to poor sleep, increased anxiety and depression and addictive behaviours such as thinking about smartphones and social media all of the time.

Phone use can also have a negative impact on other areas of an individual’s life, and an individual continuing to use a smartphone even after their fingers, hands or neck start to hurt.

Ben Carter is a professor of medical statistics at King’s College.

He believes that in the decades to come we will view children’s smartphone use in a similar way to society’s current views on smoking.

“I think we’ll have a better understanding in 10 year’s time, and we’ll look back and reflect on how we were using [smartphones] and we’ll say ‘why were we doing that?’ he added.

“We can compare it to other behavioural addictions. Back in the 1950s smoking was for medicinal purposes. Now it’s castigated and seen as a part of society that we’re trying to remove entirely.”

In a statement, the government said creating a “safer online world” is a “priority”.

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