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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Cicely Higham, Nadeine Asbali and Zoe Williams

‘They give us liberty with less anxiety’: A teenager, a parent and a teacher on smartphones for under-14s

United States Anxiety St Albans TikTok
Eleanor Shakespeare smartphone

Cicely Higham, 16, student: why disable the smoke alarm instead of putting out the fire?

I wouldn’t mind if it was only in St Albans that headteachers want to create a smartphone-free city for under-14s. I can take reasonable steps not to live there. But banning phones for young people is raised all the time, and it’s the lazy way out. There are noticeable negative effects of extensive internet use: I’m 16, and in the middle of GCSEs – if I could get back all the revision time I’ve lost on TikTok, believe me, I would.

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