Smartphones- the new addiction
“More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.” So ran the now infamous post-war advertising campaign. It’s incredible to think that something so harmful and addictive might be promoted by those we trust the most. Almost 80 years later we are only just getting around to banning the sale of cigarettes to young people. Draw your own conclusions about why we have been so slow to act but what have we learned?
15 years ago we saw the advent of the smartphone. A device that’s now so ubiquitous that 97% of 12-year-olds carry one. International studies show a clear correlation between the growth of smartphone ownership and the rise in levels of anxiety among children and young people, with the problem being particularly marked among girls and young women.
A Cambridge University study of the Millennium Cohort revealed that half of the young people surveyed felt they were addicted to social media, which they largely consume through their mobile devices. Again- the figure is higher yet for young women.
Only last week, BBC News reported that thousands of parents with children at schools across Tyneside have been sent a warning by Northumbria Police. This followed the discovery that children as young as nine have been added to malicious WhatsApp groups promoting self-harm, sexual violence and racism.
It’s 7 years since the death of Molly Russell, the teenager whose completed suicide followed her exposure to a stream of dark, depressing content on Pinterest and Instagram. Of 16,300 pieces of content saved, liked or shared by Molly on Instagram in the six months before she died, 2,100 were related to suicide, self-harm and depression.
Controlling access to social media when the gateway to them is a pocket-sized device is almost impossible and to date, social media companies have been slow at best in exercising control over content.
Parents and carers are faced with a stark choice: either give children access to something that opens the door to a world which can be very bleak or risk alienating them from their peers. For support in managing this issue, why not visit the new parent-led movement for a smartphone free childhood