ITV News North of England Reporter Jonathan Brown followed the progress of some of the 70 young people who put down their phones
Pupils at schools in Sheffield have given up their smartphones for three weeks after some admitted to using them for up to 13 hours a day.
The group, aged between four and 17, volunteered to swap their devices for so-called ‘brick phones’ without internet or social media.
It comes as the government considers Australia-style plans to ban under-16s in the UK from social media platforms.
A consultation, which ends on May 26, also looks at restrictions on addictive features, including infinite scrolling, and better support for caregivers to allow young people to be online safely.
ITV News followed the progress of some of the 70 young people who put down their phones – among them was Maliah Sibanda, 14, who says her algorithm has thrown up violent and explicit content on social media.
“I’m on my phone for 13 hours a day,” she said. “Even when I had my phone, I’d just be thinking ‘I could be doing so many more productive things right now’, and I’m sat scrolling through TikTok. I’m on it until I fall asleep.”
Stanley Sheldon, 14, used his phone for six hours a day before the experiment and relied on it to contact his friends.
He said: “If you lost it (your smartphone), you’d lose quite a few friends.”
Spencer Kubon, 11, added: “You can get very sucked in by it (social media). Some people get it at a very young age and then they are just always on it.”
The three-week project was organised by staff at Ecclesfield School in Sheffield and featured its four feeder schools.
The idea was first piloted at Ecclesfield last year, but the number of pupils who volunteered to take part this year has more than doubled.
“Kids are falling out, and they might not come in, they might be struggling with their mental health because of things that they are seeing online,” said Liz Hunter, the teacher behind the initiative.
“Loads of children are surviving on four to six hours sleep a night – their attention is shot.
“We need a rule about this (social media) for brains not fully developed to handle the power of these platforms.”
In total, only three pupils dropped out of the smartphone swap project over the three weeks.
Teachers reported seeing students’ sleep improve; some told them they were spending more time with family or doing activities, while others reported struggles with boredom and social isolation.
But for all those who took part, it made them reflect on their screen time, including parents who wish they hadn’t introduced them so early and use them to monitor their children.
Now with their phones back and unlimited access to social media, we will have to see if these devices are still the first and last thing they access each day.
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