Irish Examiner view: Listen to teachers’ warnings about children using mobile phones

Waterford primary schools set a fine example for other teachers and parents as minister advocates stricter age verification

Whether at home or at school, children and teenagers can easily be exposed to harmful content if they have unmonitored access to online devices including smartphones. Picture: iStock

It took many years for society to take stock of the influence of what began as our collective mobile phone habit, which quickly became an obsession and finally widespread addiction, but our pocket companions are under serious scrutiny today.

For some it is the threat of a gambling addiction made easy by a few taps of a finger. For others it’s sophisticated scams or accessing explicit material in an online world where anonymity pays. For many of us, the malign influence of social media on our democracy is hitting home.