Most UK children have their own phone by the age of 11 – by which time almost a third of those youngsters will have been exposed to online pornography – and by 12 a child will spend 29 hours a week with their head buried in a screen. But what if we didn’t give kids smartphones until they were 14? Or even 16? Senior reporter Lauren Abbott meets the parents gearing-up to give their children a smartphone-free childhood and what’s more, they say their numbers are growing fast. Exposure to violent and explicit content, cyber bullying, academic distraction and the risk of mental illness. These are j…
