Sheffield councillors have praised the work of campaign volunteers across South Yorkshire and championed action following concerns raised by parents and children’s mobile phone usage.
Members voiced their support for proposals brought forward by the Smartphone Free Childhood (SFC) campaign at meeting of the Education, Children and Families Policy Committee earlier this month.
Regional Leader for SFC South Yorkshire, Ruth Fitzell, highlighted the widespread support for the grassroots movement in a letter to Chair of the Committee, Councillor Dawn Dale.
Cllr Dale said: “It is an issue I care deeply about.
“I share many of the concerns you have raised around children’s wellbeing, online safety and social development. I agree with your letter that we need an approach that is not anti-technology, but about supporting healthy childhoods.”
Mrs Fitzell presented a petition launched by the SFC South Yorkshire campaign in November 2025, which amassed over 800 signatures in two months.
The movement’s ‘parent pact’, which aims to help parents who pledge to not give their children a smartphone before the age of 14, and not let them access social media before 16, has received more than 2,500 signatures in South Yorkshire alone.
Mrs Fitzell said: “I’ve spoken to hundreds of parents, teachers and young people and have heard some really heartbreaking stories.
“When you open up a conversation about smartphones, it becomes really easy to say ‘Why don’t we do something differently?’”
The Chair proposed to councillors that a limited-time task and finish group be established to explore next steps through consultation with campaigners, councillors, schools, unions and parents.
As a mother herself, Mrs Fitzell joined Smartphone Free Childhood after a conversation with her husband about when their eldest child should get their first mobile phone.
She said: “This was probably year six, and as time went on, we thought ‘Why? Why would we do that? Why is this the norm?’
“And then Smartphone Free Childhood came along, and we just thought ‘this is amazing’.”
The campaign was founded in 2024 after one concerned parent posted in a Whatsapp group. Since then, the movement has amassed more than 350,000 members and is particularly popular in the Home Counties, London and the South East of England.