evidence.
SEXUAL CONTENT AND BEHAVIOUR
…exposing children to sexual & offensive content
- 90% of girls and 50% of boys say they and their peers are sent explicit pictures or videos of things they do not want to see
- 36% of children aged 8-17 said they had seen something ‘worrying or nasty’ online in the past 12 months
The Telegraph – We Must do Everything to Stop Children Watching Porn 6 December 2022
- 51% of 11 to 13 year olds say they have seen pornography online
…pressuring girls into sending sexual images of themselves
- 80% of teenage girls are being put under pressure to provide sexual images of themselves
- Girls are commonly contacted by multiple boys a night asking for ‘nudes’ (naked/ semi-naked images)
Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools and Colleges, Ofsted Report, 2021
…exposing children to sexual abuse & grooming
PHYSICAL HEALTH
…damaging children’s eyes
- Children’s myopia risk (shortsightedness) is linked to smartphone use
…contributing to obesity in children
- 9 hrs/day average screen time in kids with a smartphone
-
43% higher risk of obesity for those using smartphones for 5+ hrs/day
…preventing children playing outside
Children spend twice as long looking at screens as playing outside
…damaging development of children’s spine
- Studies of young, healthy individuals show habitual use of smartphones causes musculoskeletal problems
UK’s Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, 2015
- Paediatricians, chiropractors and physiotherapists are warning of “text neck syndrome”
The Influence on Smartphone Use on Spinal Posture, University of Toronto, 2021
…stopping kids getting enough sleep
57% more teens sleep deprived in 2015 than in 1991
When they should be sleeping 80% of teens are using smartphones
Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? Jean Twenge, The Atlantic, September 2017
FOCUS AND BRAIN CHANGES
…addictive
- 46% of teens say they use their phones “almost constantly”
Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022 Pew Research Centre, 10 August 2022
…reducing children’s academic performance
- Smartphones reduce memory and recall accuracy, even when not in use
Mobile Phones, the effects of its use on learning and memory, National Library of Medicine, 2020
- Children who spend 5-7 hrs/day on a digital device are 49 points (equivalent of two school years) behind children who are on a screen <1hr/day
…creating structural changes to children’s brains
- MRI scans of young children shows screen time reduces the size of the brain areas responsible for visual processing, empathy, attention, complex memory and early reading skills
Screen Differences in Brain Structure in Young Children, Research Horizons Scientific Reports, 2022
MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH
…responsible for the huge increase in cyberbullying
- Children no longer have respite from bullies at home
- 84% of bullying to children with smartphones happens online
…increasing depression and anxiety in children
- A 2023 study of 27,969 18-24 year olds found that mental health outcomes were significantly better the older the young person was when they got a smartphone.
- Depression, feelings of aggression, suicidal thoughts, low self-confidence, poor self-image, detachment and weak relationships increase for every year younger a child is given a smartphone – even in those with no traumatic or adverse childhood experience
Sapien Labs: Age of first smartphone/tablet and mental wellbeing outcomes, 2023
…increasing loneliness in children
- Loneliness has doubled in children since 2012
- School loneliness is highest where access to smartphones and internet use is high
…making children more likely to self-harm
- 194% increase in emergency department visits for self-harm by 10-14 year olds girls (94% for boys)
US Centres for Disease Control, Zach Rausch, 2021
- Up to 30% of teenage girls report purposefully hurting themselves without wanting to die in the last year
Non Suicidal Self Injury Study, American Journal of Public Health, 2015
The first generation of children who were given smartphones in primary school are now adults.
We now know for every year younger they were given smartphones by their parents, the worse their mental health is today.
Age of First Smartphone/Tablet and Mental Wellbeing Outcomes, Sapien Labs, May 2023
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT