A Hitchin headteacher has asked parents across the town to avoid giving their children smartphones as they are "setting them up for failure".

Parents at the William Ransom Primary School have signed the "Parent Pact" to delay giving their child a smartphone until the end of Year 9 when most will have turned 14.

Due to the response, headteacher Tony Plunkett has asked all 25 primaries in the town to join them in requesting that parents do not give their pupil’s smartphones.

Mr Plunkett believes the pact will help children as they are "still trying to understand the rules of socialisation" at that age.

He added: "They are still figuring out what body language means... if we place them in front of a screen and we're then asking them to then have conversations with people, we're setting them up for failure.”

Earlier this year, a group of parents at the school agreed they did not want to give their children smartphones and raised it with Mr Plunkett who supported their campaign.

He told the Comet that children require "real life experiences" and they are "too young" to be stuck on screen.

On Friday, September 20, Hitchin MP, Alistair Strathern visited the school to find out about the its efforts to support the SmartPhone Free Childhood initiative and to mark the launch of the Parent Pact.

he Hitchin MP said the schools' work was brilliant during his visit. he Hitchin MP said the schools' work was brilliant during his visit. (Image: Alle Bruce) The MP labelled the initiative as "brilliant" as parents mobilise together to make children's access to technology more suitable for them.

Children in Year 6 do not seem to object to the campaign either, one said: “I don't have a smartphone just yet, but I'm not sure that I will get one of those big iPhone 15 Pros in Year 7."

While another commented: “I know that some people get a phone just because of the peer pressure and everyone else is like 'oh, have you seen this new app? Have you seen this new thing on your phone?'”

In May of this year, the school conducted its own smartphone survey with 192 parents.

They discovered that:

  • Parents are under pressure: 54 per cent said their child is asking for a smartphone (if they don’t already have one).
  • 87 per cent expressed interest in a voluntary pact to delay smartphones until at least age 14 (64 per cent supported the idea and a further 23 per cent wanted to know more)
  • 67 per cent of parents want help navigating the downsides of smartphones and social media.