A smartphone free childhood? A global movement is growing [Video]

LONDON — The evidence linking smartphone use with mental health harms in children is growing and one grassroots organization in the U.K. is supporting parents who are refraining from giving their kids the devices.

Smartphone Free Childhood, founded by Daisy Greenwell and Clare Fernyhough in February, set up various group chats for parents locally across the U.K. and grew to over 60,000 members in a few weeks, according to its website.

Interest in the movement is driven by concerns about the normalization of children with smartphones. By the age of 12, 97% of children in the U.K. have a mobile phone, according to Ofcom, a government-approved regulator for the use of communication services in the U.K.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., 42% of children had a smartphone by the age of 10, climbing to 91% by the age of 14, according to a 2021 report by Common Sensewhich surveyed 1,306 young people in …