A city in the UK has announced plans to become the first British city to go smartphone-free for children under 14.
Headteachers in St Albans are urging parents to postpone buying their children a device.
In a joint letter, the Heads of the St Albans primary schools consortium wrote: "We encourage all parents to delay giving children a smartphone until they reach the age of 14, opting instead for a text/call phone alternative if necessary.
"As head teachers, we have committed to promoting our own schools as smartphone-free.
A city in the UK has announced plans to become the first British city to go smartphone-free for children under 14
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"We believe we can all work together across St Albans and join the growing movement across the country to change the ‘normal’ age that children are given smartphones."
The letter has been signed by 20 of 24 primary schools in the city.
It comes as campaigners raise concerns over WhatsApp lowering its age limit from 16 to 13.
Justine Elbourne-Cload, executive head teacher of Cunningham Hill Schools and chair of the consortium said they have noted "lots of issues" with children joining WhatsApp groups - with some accessing and sharing inappropriate material.
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"Our hope is at the very minimum that it would be a shock to see a child under the age of 11, before secondary, with a smartphone [in St Albans]," she told The Times.
"It is far easier if it is the general norm that no children or very few children have smartphones.
"If the norm is they will walk around with old Nokia bricks, that’s what everyone will have and that will be fine. Because it always was fine. We’re just trying to roll back that age."
The Smartphone Free Childhood campaign has taken off over recent months as concerns grow about online safety and the impact of social media on mental health.
The Smartphone Free Childhood campaign has taken off over recent months as concerns grow about online safety and the impact of social media on mental health
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Matthew Tavender, head of schools at Cunningham Hill, said there was an issue with "being connected at all times. Children can’t escape their peers — this constant connectivity, I think that’s a real burden on them."
The county of Hertfordshire began a similar consultation which Elbourne-Cload hopes will have a "snowball effect".
The results of a consultation that would have proposed a social media ban for under-16s have been delayed by the Government.
