Over half of parents regret giving their children smartphones

A survey from Finnish mobile phone manufacturer HMD of 10,000 parents in the UK, US, India, Germany and Australia finds that 54% regret giving their kids smartphones because:

• 70% believe their own smartphone-free childhoods led to better family time
• 75% fear smartphones expose their kids to internet dangers, with over half admitting they don’t know what their children are doing online
• In their kids, they observe negative impacts on sleep (64%), physical inactivity (61%) and reduced time socializing with friends (54%)
• Nearly half report changes in their child's personality due to phone use

📵 The new school year has reignited the debate over smartphone bans. Parents and educators are concerned about the impact of screen time on youth, citing mental health concerns, cyberbullying worries and declining attention spans. Schools across the US and Europe are already experimenting with bans.

Beyond classrooms, how can brands help parents curb Gen Alpha’s screen time? Stricter social media age limits (set to be imposed in Australia) and pushing dumbphones (as EE is doing in the UK) won’t cut it. Instead of blaming parents for using YouTube as a digital babysitter, brands could offer better tools for keeping kids engaged and entertained.