Irish parents unite to tell their children it's no to smartphones

On the principle of strength in numbers, parents in the Irish town of Greystones have banded together to collectively tell their children they cannot have a smartphone until secondary school.

- Rory Carroll

Parents' associations across the district's eight primary schools have adopted a no-smartphone code to present a united front against children's lobbying.

"If everyone does it across the board you don't feel like you're the odd one out. It makes it so much easier to say no," said Laura Bourne, who has a child in junior infants. "The longer we can preserve their innocence the better."

Schools and parents in the County Wicklow town took the initiative last month amid concern smartphones were fuelling anxiety and exposing children to adult material.

It is a rare example of an entire town taking joint action on the issue. The voluntary pact is to withhold smartphones from children - at home, in school, everywhere - until they enter secondary school. Applying it to all children in the area will, it is hoped, curb peer pressure and dampen any resentment.