Sophie Winkleman wants children to be given “brick phones” instead of smartphones to avoid screen addiction.
Sophie Winkleman said that children should be given 'brick phones' instead of smartphones to avoid screen addiction
The 43-year-old actress, who is also known as Lady Sophie Windsor, argued that there were “only downsides” to giving youngsters smartphones, and bashed social media apps like Tik Tok, Snapchat and Instagram.
The ‘Sanditon’ star told The Telegraph: “Something needs to happen from higher up. I don’t know how anyone can defend social media and smartphone use for under-16s.
“When people say, ‘I want to know my child is safe…’ There are different kinds of brick phones that call and text. If you really want to know where your child is every second of the day, you can put a little tracker in his trainer. Why do they need anything other than to call and text each other?
“I don’t understand it. There’s only downsides.”
Sophie also bashed the over-reliance of screens in education, and said that she was “anxious and frustrated” that Britain was continuing to drink “the tech Kool-Aid”.
She said: “I feel that digital learning is a huge problem.
“Big countries like China are dramatically rowing back on tech in the classroom. And Sweden’s torn up its digital charter and is going back to books, paper and pen.
“It’s happening all over the world in countries like East Asia who have the best education systems in the world. Bill Gates himself said that devices have a terrible record in the classroom.
“I’m anxious and frustrated that Britain is still drinking the tech Kool-Aid, thinking that digital learning is progressive and shiny, and it’s actually being proved to be the very opposite.”
Sophie insisted that giving children a handheld device at a young age would damage their brain development, and highlighted the insidious tricks companies use to hook youngsters to screens.
She then said social media was "without a doubt" the culprit behind a rise in mental health problems amongst youngsters.
The ‘Peep show’ star explained: “We have to wipe it out for all of them. Then they can simply text each other or call each other and have a phone call at night instead of going down endless rabbit holes.
“None of this stuff has an upside, and I want people to come together and say, ‘Let’s get rid of this. For every child in Britain’.”
“The brick phones do everything children need. They don’t need anything else.”