'Big buy-in' from parents for Waterford schools' smartphone ban
In addition to cyberbullying, Portlaw National School principal Brian Barron said children were viewing violent and sexualised content and accessing troubling advice online through smartphones.
Online groups in which primary school-age children get tips on eating disorders and self-harming might be on the less common end of the scale for smartphone use, but it is a reality nonetheless.
That, along with rampant cyberbullying and excessive screen time, led to two Waterford principals spearheading an ambitious charter which saw every primary school in the county ask parents to not buy smartphones for their children, becoming the first county to do so.
Portlaw National School principal Brian Barron, who led the charter along with St Ursula’s Ursuline primary school principal Triona Daly, said it had been a success since it was introduced just three months ago.
Since then, about half of parents have signed up on average among non-Deis schools. “We were impressed such numbers signed up,” he said.
However, he noted signup was lower among Deis schools, averaging at about 20%, which he believes may be down to parents taking part but not signing up or due to children already having a smartphone before the charter was launched.
Although the use of technology among children is a complex and multifaceted issue, Mr Barron said the choice to focus on phones was the most accessible and easy to understand.
“They didn't have to make a change, we didn't ask anyone to take a phone off their child. We just asked people not to buy one if they haven't done so already,” he said.
Mr Barron said there had been a “big buy-in” from parents overall, adding once a core group signed up, others followed suit and will continue to do so.
He said the parent-led collective nature of the charter, which aims to reach parents with young children in primary school before they purchase the phones, has led to its success.
Schools are also free to adapt the charter to suit their own needs, with some opting for a staggered approach.
For example, Butlerstown National School principal Maria O'Connor gave the option for parents who have already bought a smartphone to pledge that a parental control app will be installed, ensuring activity is monitored while also restricting screen time.
Mr Barron said “like adults”, children can be much crueler to each other online.
Before the charter, classroom WhatsApp groups set up by children which excluded some were a common occurrence.
“They’ll set up, let's call it a fourth class WhatsApp group, and then somebody will say something that's not appreciated, and there'll be another group set up and that person won’t be added to it and everybody will be told to jump onto this new group,” he said.
In addition to cyberbullying, Mr Barron said children were viewing violent and sexualised content and accessing troubling advice online through smartphones, which he has seen first-hand.
He said children in fifth and sixth class, are accessing videos and groups focused on self-harm and eating disorders, where they get advice on how to self-harm, how to eat less or how to hide the issue from their parents.
“There's a level of knowledge that children are accessing now at such a young age and almost always parents are unaware until it starts manifesting itself,” he said.
He said his school has also seen the impact of too much screen time and its effect on concentration levels in class, while children as young as seven are playing age-restricted games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty.
Although the charter aims to ensure parents do not provide smartphones for their children until they reach secondary school, he said there may be room for a similar move among older children and teenagers.
“A lot of secondary schools have contacted me since we went live with this in September saying they need something similar because they're obviously seeing massive problems there as well,” he said.
He believes a second phase of the charter which would transition from primary school to secondary school could see parental control apps installed by parents or a delay in access to social media.
“There might be an appetite for that as well, so when they get the phone it’s staggered, as opposed to having a phone and you're on TikTok and all the rest of it on day one,” he said.
