New phone launched to block social media use for children
Human Mobile Devices co-created the phone with the help of parents, and hope it will help with rising mental health issues in young people.
A new phone co-created with parents is being launched today to protect children from anxiety and depression by blocking social media use.
The device by Human Mobile Devices (HMD) is a first and aims to give mums and dads greater control over their child's screen time.
It will put the firm on a collision course with social media giants, including Meta, as it will be designed to prevent access to such platforms through hardware and software-based solutions.
Lars Silberbauer, who is the chief marketing officer for HMD, exclusively told the Daily Express that the aim of the Better Phone Project is to tackle the digital overload facing youngsters as their research indicated that 97% of children have a smartphone and 65% of parents had concerns about the phone's use on their mental health.
Mr Silberbauer said: "I was surprised that almost 100% of 12-year-olds have a phone and 95% of 13- to 17-year-olds use social media and of course it's a complex picture.
"Sometimes it's good, sometimes people find communities that they don't have in the physical world but we definitely see there is a big negative impact that we see on a third of global 16-year-olds who describe themselves as having anxiety.
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"I'm quite sure that didn't happen 20 years ago and almost 40% believe they spend too much time on social media - these are Gen Z issues but you can see that popping up in other age groups where digital devices and social media is stealing quality time in our hands.
"So we did our own research because we wanted to make sure that these numbers are true and also that actually we dig a bit deeper so we spoke to 10,000 parents what we found out that if we look at this group of parents and that more than half wished they had waited longer to give their child a smartphone, 65% had concerns about the phone's use on mental health and the most concerning, is that something I wouldn't want to happen to my kids, that has almost changed mobile phone use and a child's personality.
"So these are quite shocking facts."
He added: "We can only develop the right thing if we can do that in collaboration with parents, teenagers, experts and of course the network that we are part of and then we also want to commit to develop these devices and bring them to market."
Nearly 75% of parents fear smartphones expose their children to internet dangers and 55% added that their child’s phone use is a source of major arguments and a third have cried over their child’s phone obsession.
A total of 64% of mums and dads questioned said smartphone use negatively impacts their child’s sleep, 61% think it reduces the amount of physical activity they take, and more than half (54%) worried that it will reduce the amount of time they spend socialising with friends.
Mr Silberbauer said some mums and dads had tried to make their phones safer through their own methods.
"Almost two out of three have tried to put together solutions themselves, so they tried to buy a Nokia phone or whatever and put a tracking device on it or put something on it so we direct to the right device and what that told us was that basically the right devices were not out there," he said.
"It's a big project, we don't want to just start the conversation, the conversation is already happening - it's a complex situation and we need to develop the right thing.
"You need to find something that is both appealing to parents, to the needs that the parents have and also of course in this we don't just talk about phones for kids and teenagers but we are talking about phones for everyone.
"Phones that are not better at distracting us but at refocusing on what we want to do and what we should do."
He said that even leaders of social media platforms were limiting the amount of access their children had in some cases.
Mr Silberbauer said: "Well we haven't asked Mark Zuckerberg or know how he feels about it because, honestly, I don't care but I have also seen a tendency, I don't know about him specifically, with a lot of tech leaders. They are cautious about letting their own kids use their own platforms and that of course is very telling."
He added: "When we have seen this trend is driven by Gen Zs and younger people you actually realise you are playing with powers and forces that we cannot control like the phones right now are so good at keeping you in the loop and keeping you picking them up.
"You think it's a challenge to keep people actually detoxed from having a smartphone. I personally have friends where they take their phones away from their kids. They get really impacted like they are addicts.
"That's why we need to have this proper detox in there.
"We don't want to dodge legislation, we are very open to work with anyone, all the big social media platforms, anyone who wants to work with us if they are relying on the privilege and will benefit people."
