An advocacy group is calling on parents across Bermuda to get behind a global movement to reduce harmful smartphone and social media use in young people.

Smartphone Free Childhood Bermuda gave two public presentations this week. They announced 317 people in Bermuda had signed an online pledge since last month to support delaying smartphones until at least age 14 and social media until age 16.

Two of the group’s founders, Una Walsh-Taylor and Mike Walsh, said young people, not least teens, experience intense peer pressure to use screens and social media. If fewer young people have access to them, that peer pressure could ease, they added.

Pointing to shocking local and international statistics about increases in youth suicide, depression and self harm related to smartphone and social media use, as well as child exposure to adult, offensive and violent content online, the group said that there was no time to wait for the Government to create protective legislation — parents had to lead the charge.

The Royal Gazette attended one of the presentations at Bermuda High School on Thursday afternoon.

Mr Walsh, a father of two, told the audience of about 20 women, many of whom were mothers: “We have got to remove the peer pressure. If enough of us agree to delay use, then everything changes.

“It is going to be hard for the parent of a child who doesn’t have access to social media and smartphones when everyone else does, but if we come together, we can really be quite powerful.

“That is what the movement is about.”

Ms Walsh-Taylor said Smartphone Free Childhood began as a UK-based, grass-roots movement and that more than 180,000 parents in Britain had signed the pledge.

Smartphone Free Childhood began in 2024 following a WhatsApp chat between two parents in the UK and expanded into a movement with a reported 100,000 WhatsApp chat members and 450,000 online supporters globally.

She added: “We feel that we can’t wait for government. Even if the Government were to put into effect laws today, would it really go into effect in time for our kids coming up now? I don’t think it would.

“The power is in our hands. We don’t have to wait for the Government, we can do this as a parental community together.”

Mr Walsh stressed that Smartphone Free Childhood is not an anti-tech movement but a pro-child movement.

“We are not saying that smartphones should be banned, we are not saying kids should not have access to the internet,” he explained. “We know that these things open up opportunities for children.

“What we are recommending is delaying smartphones until at least age 14 and delaying social media until age 16. It’s giving kids a bit more time to learn and grow. Rather than a smartphone, we suggest a more basic phone that doesn’t have the internet and does not have app stores.

“By saying ‘not yet’ to smartphones, we are really saying yes to what really counts — yes to presence, yes to play, yes to in-person relationships.

“Ideally, the internet would be accessed through a shared family computer and if parents want peace of mind about where their kids are, you can do that with Bluetooth devices and GPS trackers.”

Mr Walsh said that since 2010, rates of anxiety, depression, self harm and suicide in young people had spiked across the world. Citing US and UK research that he said is reflected globally, Mr Walsh added: “It all points to the same story; being a child today is hard.”

The group shared research from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention stating that suicide rates in US adolescent boys have increased by 91 per cent since 2010.

There has also been a 150 per cent rise in depression among teens in the US since 2010, according to the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

“The evidence continues to pile up, and more and more research points to the same conclusion — the more time that kids spend on social media, the worse it is for their mental health, both in the short term and long term,” Mr Walsh said.

The Government announced in Parliament yesterday the relaunch of its CyberTips programme, aimed at informing parents about safe and responsible internet use, and highlighted the perils of potentially damaging content.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that about two-thirds of senior school students in Bermuda who attended a youth development conference reported spending more than five hours a day on screens, and that four-fifths of that time was spent on social media.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry recommend no more than two hours per day of screen time for children aged 6 to 15.

Mr Walsh highlighted a book he read called The Anxious Generation by social psychologist John Haidt. The Amazing Generation, by the same author about how to live a fulfilling, smartphone-free life, was raised during the question period.

“It really opened my mind,” he said. “We want kids to be happy and to fulfil their potential.

“We feel that a conscious, proactive approach to the use of smartphones and social media will help to give them the best chance.

“We are parents who have read around the topic and feel really passionately about how important it is. We want to try to delay the use of smartphones and social media to give kids’ brains a bit more time to grow and develop.”

The presenters said that the part of the brain responsible for self control, judgment and impulse doesn’t fully develop until the mid-20s.

Mr Walsh said: “Children and teenagers have underdeveloped brains. The part of the brain responsible for pleasure seeking and reward is developed at a much younger age and is highly active in adolescence.

“So, what you end up with is a well-documented developmental imbalance.

“Ultimately, kids are more susceptible to dopamine spikes and addiction, and they don’t have strong judgment for the consequences of their actions.

“Research has shown that the more time kids spend on smartphones and social media, the more they are trained towards shorter attention spans, reduced memory and slower empathy development.”

• Anyone wishing to sign the pledge can do so by visiting https://www.sfcbermuda.com/sign-the-pledge. For more information about the UK movement, visit www.smartphonefreechildhood.org