Kildare parents push for phone-free primary schools

The Parents’ Associations of 11 primary schools in Naas and its surrounding areas – from Clane to Two Mile House - in conjunction with teachers and management, have announced the launch of our ‘Go Phone Free’ initiative.

The campaign will kick off with an informative evening for parents and guardians of participating schools on 18 September at the Osprey Hotel in Naas. Brian Barron, Principal of Portlaw National School, will speak on his experience of successfully implementing a voluntary ‘Go Phone-Free’ code in over 70 schools in Co Waterford. Also attending will be Catherine Hallissey, a highly-regarded child psychologist from Cork, who will provide hands-on tips on how to manage our children's screentime and share ways in which we can better support our children safely to navigate the online world.

‘Go Phone Free’ is a voluntary initiative which invites parents and guardians collectively to agree that their primary school children will accept no smartphones while in primary school, no social media while in primary school, and to respect the age rating on video games.

The motivation behind this is the ever-increasing body of research which evidences the detrimental effects of smartphone and social media use in particular on the developing brain, especially on children under the age of 14.

This included increased risk of cyber-bullying, depression and anxiety, self-harm, access to pornography, vulnerability to online predators and poor academic performance, amongst others. “We believe that this initiative offers parents and guardians a tool to help address the above issues,” said a spokesperson.