'Surrounded by a Billion Strangers': The Dangers Your Child May Be Exposed to with Their First Smartphone and How to Deal With Them
By Brad Young, Financial Reporter
If your child is approaching secondary school, you may be preparing to spend hundreds of pounds on their first smartphone.
But choosing an expensive contract is just the first step in a series of difficult decisions parents face as their children gain independence online.
While phones offer tremendous benefits in terms of connectivity and independence, they also expose children to risks ranging from accidentally running up bills to sexual exploitation and AI-powered bullying.
Sky News spoke to experts in the field about the trends that parents should be aware of, and the tools they can use to combat them.
There are four categories of risks to children according to Childnet, a UK-based charity working on children's online safety.
These include content, such as pornography or gambling, communication, such as grooming or cyberbullying, commerce, where children accidentally rack up huge bills, and behavior, which includes information a child shares online.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has revealed a “sharp rise in the number of young people being sexually exploited and groomed online” without leaving their homes, according to Kate Edwards, the charity’s head of online child safety.
This refers to incidents where a child is directed to participate in their own abuse, which may be filmed or photographed and shared.
Young people have also reported cases of sextortion, where they are “tricked into sharing a sexual image of themselves and then given a ransom demand” under the threat of sharing the image, Ms Edwards said.
The charity has received calls from children reporting that generative AI is being used to scare, groom or misdiagnose children, as well as calls raising concerns about content that promotes eating disorders or suicide.
“The age of onset of an eating disorder can be very young,” said Amira Malik, clinical counselling coordinator at Beat, the UK’s leading eating disorder charity. “If it’s the same age as when someone might get their first phone, it’s important for parents to be aware of the risks.”
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said the risk of developing an eating disorder is highest in children aged 13 to 17.
It is particularly difficult to regulate video content shared on social media, as those that focus on body image or what an influencer eats in a day can lead to disruptive behaviors among vulnerable viewers.
“We gave him a loaded gun.”
Social media played a role in the murder of Amanda Stephens' 13-year-old son, Ollie, who was lured to a field near his home in Reading and stabbed to death in 2021 after an online dispute.
Ms Stevens now believes the risks posed by smartphones are too great for children to own.
“When I think back, I feel almost proud of when we gave Ollie his first phone. Now it feels like we gave him a loaded gun,” she said.
“He was subjected to a tremendous amount of violence, threats and bullying under our roof.”
Ms Stevens said she learned during the trials of two 14-year-old boys and a 13-year-old girl that there was little oversight on social media regarding violent language or sharing images of knives.
“In the safety of your own home, there are a billion strangers around.”
She's not alone in her support for a blanket ban – the House of Commons education committee has advised the government to consider legislation against mobile phone use by children under 16.
As it stands, phone ownership is almost common among 12-year-olds, according to Ofcom.
But there are tools parents can use.
“There are a lot of tools available to help them,” Ms. Edwards said. “I know it can be very scary when you hear about all these risks.”
“It is important to stress that the risks we all face do not necessarily mean that every child using a smartphone will face these risks, but rather that using this technology involves risks. There are also many benefits.”
What can parents do to increase safety?
Ms Edwards said parents should have open conversations with their children, work with them to decide on restrictions and break down power barriers between parent and child.
Whatever rules are set, the most important thing is to “let your child know that their safety comes before any rule.”
One common issue children raise with the child hotline is that they have been hurt or abused online while breaking a family rule — such as using a device at night. She said the children were afraid of getting in trouble, so they didn't speak up.
Ms Edwards said parents could contact the mobile operator and tell them the phone belongs to their child, and they would put additional barriers in place including blocking content or spending.
At home, ISPs offer tools to set limits on what can be accessed over your WiFi network.
Will Gardner, CEO of Childnet International, pointed to Apple's Family Sharing and Google's Family Link, which link a child's phone to their parents', allowing some control over downtime, such as turning off certain apps within set time frames.
It can also be used to approve payments, ensure app download requests, and monitor usage.
Ms Edwards added that apps also have their own safety mechanisms, including whether someone can contact your child or share things about them, or whether they can play with other people.
Parents and children should also be aware of available support mechanisms.
The NSCC's Safety Centre has more information on how to keep children safe online, while their partnership with Vodafone has produced a toolkit for thinking about your child's first phone.
Children can confidentially report sexual images or videos to Childline and the IWF's Report Remove programme, which will remove them from the internet.
Any adult who is concerned about the safety or welfare of a child can contact the NSPCC helpline at help@nspcc.org.uk or by calling 0808 800 5000. Children can contact the Children's Helpline on 0800 1111 or childline.org.uk.
If you are concerned about your health or the health of someone else, you can contact Beat on 0808 801 0677 or beatatingdisorders.org.uk.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can contact the Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK.
