Parents: No smartphones: no cell phones for children until they are at least 12 years old.

Hundreds of families are involved in a project to stop children's smartphone addiction. In a town near Dublin, all parents are involved.

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For now, it's just a network, but it could become a real movement. Inspired by the shared idea that cell phones, and smartphones in particular, should not be given to very young children.

The parents have started a project entitled We are waiting for the smartphone, involving 200 families who decided not to buy the Cell their children until the end of middle school. And in this decision they had the support of the Milanese schools in favor of the plan. We are waiting for the smartphone: the Ermanno Olmi, Moisè Loira, Cavalieri and Rinnovamento Pizzigoni comprehensive institutes.

Parents reiterate that they are not opposed to smartphones and their use. But their fight, in line with the positions of the Italian Association of Pediatricians, revolves around the key question: At what age should you give your first child? smartphone to the son? The Milanese parents' network's answer is simple: not before the age of 12-13. On the other hand, the data supports this seemingly harsh stance. According to a comprehensive survey commissioned by the Italian Society of Pediatric Care, the number of children between the ages of 5 and 13 who already use a smartphone has increased from 9 percent in 2020 to 14,5 percent in 2021—nearly doubled. And in the next age group, between 1 and 10, the jump is even more dramatic: from 23,5 percent in 2020 to 58,4 percent in 2021.

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The smartphone has become the first pastime for children, followed by tablets and video gamesEverything within the confines of the internet. And so in 2021, there was a historic overtaking. The average time children spent fiddling with a smartphone, at 2 hours and 35 minutes, surpassed the average time spent outdoors for the first time, at 2 hours and 24 minutes. And this, too, is not good news, by any means.

In Greystones, near Dublin, Ireland, smartphone-free parents have gone much further than in Italy. They've managed to unite eight organizations with the same shared goal: no smartphones before the start of secondary school. The critical mass of so many families is important because, by involving virtually every family in the area, no child will feel excluded or marginalized compared to their friends because they don't have access to a smartphone.

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