We Must Ban Smartphones For Under-16s

As Express columnist and broadcaster Richard Madeley tackles the horrors of online 'catfishing' in his brilliant new revenge novel, Father's Day, he reveals why only a hardline approach can protect our children from the dangers of the internet

- Matt Nixson

RICHARD Madeley passionately believes there is a "growing momentum" towards the banning, or at least severely limiting, of smartphones for young children. The veteran broadcaster and Daily Express columnist is convinced we must prevent under-16s being exposed to horrifying online content, before it's too late.

"I am 68 and I've never seen any images of someone being beheaded, on film, television or social media," he tells me. "Yet up to half of young children have seen actual beheadings on their phones. They're being passed around in the playgrounds of primary schools. They're watching actual beheadings and real torture.

"What is that doing to our kids? We're having a debate now, but I think there are some serious conclusions we've got to reach about how we protect children. The obvious one is that they don't have smartphones until they're 16.

"Their brains are so vulnerable as they approach puberty and early adolescence they're forming, they're shaping - and we're allowing this stuff to get in there to pollute and corrupt. We've got to do something about it."

After more than half a century in journalism, primarily spent driving live TV news programmes, Madeley is convinced of the desperate need to limit the ease with which youngsters find and share appalling online content.

While he concedes bans are a "blunt instrument", and it'd be nigh on impossible to start taking phones away, he insists technology - while at the root of one of the most worrying issues of our age - can also ride to the rescue. Like the Government's proposed smoking ban, which means people born in or after 2009 will never legally be able to buy cigarettes, he proposes a law gradually phasing in minimum ages for smartphones.

"Everything's fixable in the end, we're not stupid as a species," he continues optimistically.