Jim Shannon MP hosts Strangford headteacher event in partnership with Smartphone Free Childhood NI
Jim Shannon MP hosted an evening for Headteachers and Chairs of Boards of Governors based in the Strangford Constituency on the topic of smartphones and social media use for children and young people.
Presenters included Detective Inspector Nick Harris (PSNI Public Protection Branch), Eric Thompson (Headmaster, Glenlola Collegiate), Cathy Mannus (Paediatric Occupational Therapist and Smartphone Free Childhood NI Regional Co-Leader) alongside Rosalind McClean from Smartphone Free Childhood Northern Ireland.
District Police Officers from Ards and North Down PSNI were also in attendance. Speakers outlined the growing evidence of the harms of smartphone and social media use for young people and the steps that are being taken to address these challenges.
Ofcom 2025 data shows one third of 6-7 years olds in the UK have their own smartphones and this rises to 90% by age 12.
Whilst polling data from Parentkind, it indicates 94% of parents of primary school children believe smartphones are harmful, almost all children have a smartphone by the time they leave primary school.
Smartphone Free Childhood Northern Ireland says that parents feel they’ve been put in an impossible position – they either give their child a smartphone or risk alienating their child from their peers at a crucial stage of their development.
Jim Shannon MP said “It was an honour to host this event and to bring the conversation to the people of Strangford. The issue of the harms of Smart Phones is something that, as a grandfather, I am very aware of.
“As with most modern conveniences, they are incredibly useful but must be used correctly and age appropriately and this event with the PSNI and Smartphone free childhoods bringing together local teachers and principals was an important step in helping to get the balance that is needed.
“It was a well-attended evening which showed the depth of concern that there is.
“It is hoped that in working with schools and parents, we can help to protect our children from the dangers of exposure to social media at too young an age and maturity level.”
Parents Come Together
The group therefore encourages parents to come together to form voluntary pacts to delay giving smartphones to children until at least age 14, with no social media access until age 16.
To date parents of over 4,000 children at over 440 schools in Northern Ireland, many of whom are in Strangford area, have signed the pact.
In January 2026, the Department of Education NI wrote to all principals in Northern Ireland to make them aware of the Parent Pact, an initiative by Smartphone Free Childhood which provides a way for parents to sign a voluntary pledge to delay giving their child a smartphone until at least 14.
Department of Education NI 2024 Guidance, which is placed under safeguarding statutes, calls for mobile phones to be restricted throughout the school day including at lunchtime and recreational periods.
Whilst most schools have policies in place to restrict smartphone use, many secondary school parents from the Smartphone Free Childhood movement across Northern Ireland report that it is still common for children to be asked to use a smartphone in class.
Often this falls under a ‘supervised use’ policy whereby teachers ask pupils to use their own smartphones to conduct research, log on to apps such as Google Classroom, to play quizzes such as Kahoot or to monitor updates for extra curricular activities such as sports team schedules.
In Lucy Crehan’s 2025 ‘Strategic Review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum’, she outlines four reasons why pupils’ own smartphones should not be used in school as an educational tool, for four important reasons.
One being that “an increasing number of parents are choosing not to allow their children to have smartphones and their sanctioned use in school puts unfair pressure on them to give one to their child’ and another that ‘any perceived requirement to buy expensive smartphones risks discriminating against poorer families.”
Cathy Mannus, Smartphone Free Childhood Regional Co-Leader for Northern Ireland, said: “We understand smartphone and social media use for our children and young people is a huge issue for our society.
“Whilst we as parents are coming together to try to collectively delay the age at which we give our children smartphones, we cannot do this alone.
“More government regulation is required, but in the meantime parents and schools can work together and we’re grateful to the Member of Parliament for Strangford for hosting this event.
“Our hope is that all primary schools will signpost parents to the Parent Pact and secondary schools will implement fully smartphone-free bell-to-bell policies as is called for in the 2024 Department of Education NI Guidance.”
How to Join Us
To find out more about Smartphone Free Childhood, parents can go to:
www.smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk.
From there, you can sign the Parent Pact and find and join the Northern Ireland WhatsApp Community and join a group within your local area.
You can also stay updated on upcoming events by visiting Smartphone Free Childhood – Northern Ireland Facebook page.
Cathy Mannus, Paediatric Occupational Therapist and Smartphone Free Childhood NI Regional Co-Leader
About Smartphone Free Childhood:
Smartphone Free Childhood (SFC) launched spontaneously in Feb 2024 after a WhatsApp group started by two mums called Parents United for a Smartphone Free Childhood went viral.
Within hours the WhatsApp group was full, and within weeks there was a Smartphone Free Childhood WhatsApp community in every county across the UK – with thousands of SFC school groups within them.
400,000 parents across the UK have now joined Smartphone Free Childhood, which is organised into regional communities who are actively working on the ground to make change in their areas.
From collaborating with other parents to delay getting their children smartphones, to working with their schools to help them go smartphone-free, the movement has taken on a life of its own thanks to the energy and concern of this army of parents.
Inspired by the movement, in May 2024 20 out of 24 primary schools across the city of St Albans announced that they were going smartphone-free, and in June 2024, 18 out of 20 state secondaries in the London borough of Southwark.
Pressure from parents has created a domino effect, with thousands of schools across the country strengthening their policies and taking steps to go smartphone-free. In September, SFC parents in Northern Ireland worked with The Minister for Education and the Department of Education to bring in new policy guidance removing smartphones from the school day.
In September 2024, Smartphone Free Childhood launched theParent Pact, which is a simple online tool that allows parents to come together and choose to wait until at least 14 to get their child a smartphone.
Within 10 days of launch, 30,000 children had been signed up to the Pact. There are now 158,000 children and counting signed up.
The movement has been covered extensively across the national and international media. SFC groups have also sprung up in 35 different countries across the world, from Brazil to Kenya, from the USA to the UAE – this is an issue that parents across the world are struggling with.
Smartphone Free Childhood is now setting up as an official charity, determined to use the voice of its community to push for change. The ultimate goal? To permanently shift the cultural norm around when kids get smartphones.
