Sophie Winkleman hits back at Rantzen over ‘confusing’ support for children’s smartphones
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Sophie Winkleman has hit back at Dame Esther Rantzen over her “confusing” support for children’s smartphones.
In a letter to The Telegraph, the actress and campaigner, who is the daughter-in-law of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, said she had “nothing but admiration” for the work of Rantzen, the founder of Childline.
However, she said she disagreed with Rantzen’s view that vulnerable children needed smartphones to access Childline’s services, and said “the rush to stop any change by children’s charities at the forefront of the child mental-health crisis is confusing to say the least”.
Winkleman – who is married to the King’s second cousin, Lord Frederick Windsor – told The Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast in February that there were “only downsides” to children having access to social media.
She claimed that social media had “without a doubt” contributed to a rise in anxiety, depression, self-harm and anorexia among children as she urged the Government to ban smartphones for under-16s.
Rantzen, in response to Winkleman’s comments, said: “I myself have seen how two suicidal children – one abused at home, the other seriously bullied for being gay – contacted Childline via the internet, and were both given the comfort and protection they desperately needed by counsellors using our live chat service.
“I asked a group of young people visiting Childline whether they would prefer to phone or use the internet if they were suffering, and they all said they would find it easier to write.
“That is where children are these days, where Childline needs to be to help them, and for that they need a smartphone.”
However, responding in turn via a letter to The Telegraph, Winkleman said that “along with many others in the Parents for a Smartphone-free Childhood movement, I respectfully disagree with her response to a call for a ban on smartphones and social media for children”.
She said: “She [Dame Esther] says that children need smartphones to access help for their mental well-being.
“But children need mental-health services more than ever precisely because of smartphones and social media. They can access disgusting and upsetting material 24/7, and corrosive damage is done to their self-esteem. If children want to contact Childline, they don’t need a smartphone.”
Thousands of parents have joined the WhatsApp group Parents United for a Smartphone-Free Childhood since it was created in February by former school friends Clare Fernyhough and Daisy Greenwell.
Members of the group are concerned about children’s smartphone use and the pressure to give them smart devices when they go to secondary school.
Winkleman said parent campaigners were not calling for a ban on basic phones or legitimate internet access in schools, public libraries and homes.
She added: “Those of us agitating for change also think it’s naïve to expect Big Tech to implement effective safety measures.”
Her comments come after the Government published guidance on Monday for banning mobile phones in schools.
The guidance, which is non-statutory, instructs head teachers on how to ban the use of phones not only during lessons but during break and lunch periods.
Some campaigners and parents want the Government to go further.
Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, has called for a ban on social media apps for under-16s.
Katharine Birbalsingh, the leader of Michaela Community School in north London, said the Government’s guidance was “excellent news but we need more than this”.
Writing on Twitter, she said: “Smartphones and social media must be banned for under-16s.”
