Cabinet approves guidelines on smartphones for primary school children

THE Education Minster has launched a new plan to encourage parents to avoid buying smartphones for children in primary school.

On Tuesday, Cabinet approved plans to roll out resources to support parents in developing voluntary codes regarding smartphone use among primary school children.

A new guide for parents and parents’ associations, called Keeping Childhood Smartphone Free, is now available online and will be issued to all primary schools.

Launching the new plan, Minister for Education Norma Foley TD said the guidelines would help to support parents who wish to take action around smartphones in their community.

Minister Foley said: “I’ve been especially impressed by what I’ve seen in Greystones in Wicklow where parents of primary school children agreed collectively not to buy smartphones for their children whilst in primary school. 

“These new guidelines are designed to see similar initiatives being rolled out across other schools.” 

Minister Foley said she wanted to support more parents and schools in taking this step to take collective action around smartphones in their community.  

“That is why [on Tuesday] I am launching these guidelines, which provide a framework for parents and the school community to have these conversations with their children and with each other”, the Minister said.

According to the Department of Education, the development of the new guidelines has today been noted in a cabinet memo designed to help support parents amid concerns regarding primary school children’s potential exposure to cyberbullying and other online harms. 

As part of a wider package of supports for parents, Minister Foley is providing additional funding to Webwise, an internet safety initiative funded by the Department of Education and the EU, to deliver new web safety lectures for parents.

Webwise will now be offering information sessions and webinars for parents and schools nationwide.  

New research by the Anti-Bullying Centre at Dublin City University is also being funded to inform the impact of smartphone restrictions on bullying behaviour in the Irish context.

 Minister Foley said that there were clear benefits to owning a smartphone but the risks they posed to children had to be managed.  

“Principals tell me that online bullying using smartphones happens outside school hours. They can’t control it”, she said.

“It happens outside of school.

“Children can be exposed to violence and sexual content that no parent would want them to see via their smartphone.” 

Minister Foley stressed that while everyone was guilty at times of being stuck on their smartphones, excessive smartphone use can be particularly damaging for children if they were missing out on real life experiences with their family and friends.  

“It’s a gift, the ability to converse, to chat and to talk. But you only get that gift when you do engage with other people”, she said.

Parents and parents’ associations can access the new guidelines HERE. 

For further supports or information visit Webwise.