Thousands of parents support under-14 phone ban

More than 5,000 parents in Kent have signed up to delay their children's access to smartphones and social media

Thousands of parents across Kent have agreed to ban their children from social media until they turn 16 years old.

Six primary schools and more than 5,000 parents or caregivers in the county have signed up to national initiative Parent Pact, run by charity Smartphone Free Childhood (SFC).

The pact promises to delay smartphone use in teens until Year 9 and access to social media until two years later.

SFC regional leader Felicity Winkles said: "This movement is gathering extraordinary momentum here in Kent."

"Each new pact strengthens the community and makes it easier for the next family to say no to early smartphone use," she added.

Grassroots group SFC was set up in 2024 and aims to eliminate the peer pressure around smartphone and social media use.

Sevenoaks School and Amherst Primary School in Sevenoaks, St James Primary School in Royal Tunbridge Wells, John Wallis Academy in Ashford, Cheriton Primary School in Folkestone and Hextable Primary School in Swanley have so far signed up for their students to honour the campaign.

MP for Sevenoaks, Swanley and Dartford Laura Trott will host an SFC event on 3 July to discuss practical ways schools and communities can support healthy tech habits in children.

The event starts at 18:30 BST and takes place at The Space Performing Arts Centre in Sevenoaks.

'Parents are frightened'

Meanwhile, a play written from young people's experiences with smartphone addiction and online behaviour is set to tour schools in Kent.

Starting on Monday at The Whitstable School, Generation FOMO is written from interviews with teens on problematic behaviour on social media.

Artistic director at the University of Kent's Portrait Theatre Isabelle Defaut spoke to BBC Kent's Dominic King about the project in October.

She interviewed friends' children anonymously to use verbatim in the show - with topics ranging from fear of missing out (FOMO) due to seeing social media to inappropriate content online.

She said: "Many of us who are parents are super-aware and frightened of how this affects our children."