In a striking move, 341 parents from schools in and around Monaco have signed the ‘Enfance Sans Smartphone’ pledge, vowing to keep smartphones out of their children’s hands until at least age 14. The campaign, fuelled by mounting evidence of the devices’ harm, is a desperate bid to shield kids from a digital tide that’s reshaping their minds, bodies, and lives.
The data is grim. Studies paint smartphones as a wrecking ball for childhood: exposing kids to sexual and offensive content, rewiring their brains, and spiking anxiety and depression—up 98 percent since 2004. Sleep is a casualty too, with 80 percent of teens glued to screens when they should be resting. Nearly half of teens are online “almost constantly,” and 23 percent show signs of addiction. Girls as young as 11 face pressure to send nude photos, while self-harm hospitalisations have surged 140 percent since 2010, with 24 percent of 17-year-old UK girls affected.
Physically, it’s no better. Neck pain plagues 69 percent of smartphone-using kids, 81 percent showing spinal strain. Obesity risk jumps 43 percent for those on screens five hours or more daily—kids average nine. Myopia’s on the rise, tied to screen glare, and focus is crumbling, with 40 percent struggling to concentrate. Socially, kids are retreating—spending less time with friends in person, twice as long on screens as outdoors, and losing the knack for empathy and face-to-face connection. Cyberbullying’s rampant, with 84 percent of it online, stalking kids even at home. Loneliness has doubled since 2012, worst where phones dominate.
The pledge’s backers point a finger at Silicon Valley moguls who built this tech but keep it far from their own kids. For Monaco’s parents, it’s personal. One, a mother of two at a local école, said she signed after watching her 12-year-old’s grades slip and mood darken, phone always in hand. Another, a father near Fontvieille, joined when his son’s neck pain landed them in a doctor’s office—again.
This isn’t just a Monaco issue; it’s a cry against a global crisis. The pledge aims to roll back an “epidemic of mental illness” by delaying smartphone access, giving kids a shot at reclaiming playtime, family ties, and real-world bonds. With 341 signatures and counting, the movement’s clear: in this tiny principality, parents are drawing a line in the sand—one screen-free childhood at a time.
