22-05-2025
Peril in the palm: the concerning impact and digital danger of smartphones on children
After weeks of planning with Beaulieu School we launched an experiment taking phones away from unknowing pupils for a fortnight.
In the weeks running up to the day, we asked for permission from parents without the children's knowledge. Out of 90 girls in the year group, only 11 of their parents agreed.
When the girls entered the room with their phones, they had no idea they would be leaving without them.
That being said - all of them agreed to take part with one of them saying "I know I'm addicted - I know I am. It's just no one has ever tried to stop me."
Before saying their goodbyes, I wanted to know how much time they spend scrolling and messaging on each day.
The highest average daily screen time was five hours and 58 minutes - or a quarter of her day. For context, that is higher than my own screen time as a journalist using a phone for work.
Another student went on to tell me that she had once spent 23 hours in a week solely on TikTok.
GP and author Dr Susanna Davies says phones are "designed to be addictive" and wants both parents and governments to better protect children's well-being.
I asked them if they had come across any harmful content while scrolling online, and their answers ranged from content and comments about suicide to sexually inappropriate material - and a reminder that these students are just 13 and 14 years old.
Research by the Children's Commissioner for England says almost three-quarters of teenagers between 13 and 17 have encountered one or more potential harms online.
Meanwhile the average age at which children first see pornography is just 13 years old.
Although parents can manage settings on some devices to help protect their children's well-being, there are growing calls for governments to introduce laws to restrict the amount of harmful content that is often readily available for children and young people to access online.
The UK's Online Safety Act will come into force in July, but Jersey currently has no similar legislation after opting to build its own laws independently.
The UK Act involves a series of rules aiming to protect children from content relating to topics including suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and pornography.
Beaulieu teacher Mr Harris hopes the ITV News experiment can help highlight how difficult it is to control what children can access online.
He told ITV News: "I've got an 11-year-old at home, who will be starting secondary school in September, and he's just got his phone.
"We're very strict at home, so we monitor his apps, but I'm sure there are lots of parents with the best will in the world who will not be able to monitor and police that."
