A pact to enable children to have a 'smartphone-free childhood' that has been signed by more than 34,000 parents is starting to gain momentum in Stevenage and North Herts.

A total of schools 51 in Stevenage and North Herts have seen parents sign the pact to wait to give their child a smartphone until at least the end of Year 9 (age 14).

In September, headteacher of William Ransom Primary School Tony Plunkett called for parents across the town to avoid giving their children smartphones as they are "setting them up for failure", publicly supporting the pact.

Hitchin MP, Alistair Strathern also backed the pact labelling the initiative as "brilliant" as parents mobilise together to make children's access to technology more suitable for them.

The full list of schools from which parents have signed the 'Smartphone Free Childhood' pact in the area is as follows.

Stevenage:

  • Peartree Spring Primary School
  • The John Henry Newman School
  • St Vincent De Paul RC Primary School
  • Barclay Academy
  • Martin Wood Primary School
  • The Leys Primary School
  • Round Diamond Primary School
  • Letchmore Infants’ School
  • Camps Hill Primary School
  • Shephalbury Par Primary School
  • Almond Hill Junior School

Hitchin:

  • William Ransom Primary School
  • Samuel Lucas JMI School
  • Kingshott School
  • Wilsher-Dacre Junior Academy
  • Whitehill Junior School
  • Highbury Infant School
  • St Ippolyts CE Primary School
  • Hitchin Girls’ School
  • Mary Exton Primary School
  • The Priory School
  • Purwell Primary School
  • Our Lady RC Primary School

Baldock:

  • Hartsfield JMI School
  • St Johns Primary School
  • The Knights Templar School
  • St Mary’s Infants’ School

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Letchworth:

  • Lordship Farm Primary School
  • St Christopher School
  • Oaklands Primary School
  • Stonehill School
  • The Highfield School
  • St Francis College
  • Norton St Nicholas CE Primary School
  • Wilbury Junior School
  • Hillshott Infant School
  • St Thomas More RC Primary School

North Herts:

  • Pirton School, Pirton
  • Graveley primary school, Graveley
  • Whitwell Primary School, Whitwell
  • Benington CE Primary School, Benington
  • Breachwood Green JMI School, Breachwood Green
  • St Michale’s Woolmer Green CE primary School, Woolmer Green
  • Offley Endowed Primary School, Offley
  • Ardeley St Lawrence CE Primary School, Ardeley
  • Watton-at-stone Primay School, Watton 
  • Preston Primary School, Preston
  • Oughton Primary School, Hitchin Oughton
  • Ickleford Primary School, Ickleford
  • Wymondley JMI School, Little Wymondley
  • Aston St Mary's CE Primary School, Aston

Overall, 3,536 parents across 308 schools have signed up to the pact in Hertfordshire.

The petition was put together by grassroots movement 'Smartphone Free Childhood', who hope that the petition will push for a future of schools without smartphones.

The national pact currently sits at 55,448 children from 8,093 schools, with the number one spot held by Hertfordshire, followed by Surrey, South West London and then Hampshire in fourth.

'Smartphone Free Childhood' states: "We’re on mission to change the cultural norm that children are given smartphones, and challenge Big Tech’s ever-increasing colonisation of childhood."

It has three three clear goals:
1. Growing the national conversation about the harms of smartphones for children.

2. Empowering parents and schools to take collective action and create change at a local level.

3. Putting pressure on government and tech companies to help us protect our children.

You can read more about the movement and follow the results of the petition here: www.SmartphoneFreeChildhood.co.uk