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Wednesday 12th February 2025 – Anonymous 2 To: Scrutiny Communications <Scrutiny@gov.je> Subject: Smartphones for children
Hi,
I am writing as I believe there will be some discussion on this topic soon. I just
wanted my concern about my children having access to smartphones in early adolescence. As parents we feel she should not have access until 16- however realistically when all her peers have it you then leave your child feeling isolated or left out, which can in turn cause well-being problems. I feel that smartphones should be banned until 16 and at the very least banned at school to ensure that children are actually communicating, socialising and not obsessing about Tik Tok and Snapchat. In line with what Australia has done I feel Jersey are in a great situation to lead the way in this across the UK. The evidence out there and the impact smartphones and devices have on developing brains is out there, considering we follow guideline-based practise and evidence base in the majority of vocations then this should also be followed.
I am aware that schools have their own individual decision-making process around smart phones and feel that the government as a whole need to consider a law for smart phones based on evidence to ensure their is consistency across all schools. Our generation as parents are lucky, we did not grow up with social media and we have to fight and advocate to try and improve this for our children.
Thanks for listening [redacted]