Smartphone wars / Snobbery is the best weapon against screen time |
I can’t be the only neurotic mother to have rejoiced when the Princess of Wales revealed recently that she has a strict ‘no phones at the table’ rule. The Prince of Wales then later let slip that Prince George, who is 12, isn’t allowed a smartphone. When George eventually does get a phone, William added, it will be a brick without the internet – similar, one imagines, to the sort favoured by drug dealers.
Hallelujah! Up until now, the best line for parents to trot out has been the old chestnut that ‘Silicon Valley guys send their children to schools where the tech use is unbelievably moderate because they know how addictive this stuff is’. I’m quoting the great Sophie Winkleman here, aka Lady Frederick Windsor, aka Big Suze from Peep Show, who deserves plenty of credit for being one of the earliest, and most vocal, campaigners against smartphones and ‘smart tech’ – that is, screens in schools.
Social stigma is potentially the most powerful weapon we have against screen time
The Princess of Wales is clearly lending her voice to this campaign. It was a subtle but notable moment of the year, because people really do love to copy HRH’s lifestyle choices: just look at what she did for nude court shoes, wrap dresses and Clarins lip perfector. And who cares what the Silicon Valley weirdos do when it comes to raising their own children anyway? They are the ones who caused this mess in the first place. Far more interesting is what........