In conversation with Laura Wyatt-Smith: Exploring the effects of smartphones on childhood

From podcast to Churchill Fellowship

Launched in the shadow of the pandemic, the idea behind Laura’s podcast Childhood Heroes was to explore different themes affecting childhood, by interviewing experts in their field. She covered topics ranging from childhood bereavement and children and the care system to childhood bullying.

“During those interviews, two factors were emerging: we were over-parenting in the real world, so children were not having enough freedom; and secondly, parents were ill-equipped to support children with the digitalisation of childhood, because they hadn’t lived through it themselves.

“Parents felt insecure and guilty not to have a handle on their children’s screen time, but on a macro level, we weren’t acknowledging this societal change, and the support and guidance for parents hadn’t caught up.

“We were talking about things like online bullying, mental health, and children’s access to pornography, but we weren’t talking about the gateway to all these things – smartphones.”

Quizzing tech industry professionals in Silicon Valley

The starting point for Laura’s Churchill Fellowship was to find out how tech professionals in Silicon Valley were raising their own children. How were they being educated? What was the culture of child-rearing in California? What was the research saying?

She travelled the length of California for her investigations. She met parents working in Silicon Valley, and their children, and found that they were insulated from the technology their parents were involved in. These children were attending low-tech schools, and they weren’t allowed smartphones under the age of 14 – at least.

Laura met with youth workers, teachers, and global academics, including Dr Larry Rosen, who points to how our ‘ancient’ brains have evolved slowly and struggle to cope with the extreme stimulation of the rapid digital world.

Laura visited several schools, including The Journey School in Los Angeles, which follows the Cyberwise curriculum – called Cyber Civics – of teaching children to be ethical digital citizens and mindful users of technology.

Her visit to the USA also coincided with the publication of the influential book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, which explores the effects of smartphones on children. Laura attended the San Francisco book launch and spoke to the author.

While the USA visit informed the majority of Laura’s Fellowship work, she also looked at research into best practice in the EU, attending the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) in Paris, learning about responsibility and what the tech industry is and is not doing. She conducted numerous interviews with experts on the impact of technology on childhood.

Putting learning into practice

Armed with the knowledge she has gained, Laura has given talks and delivered workshops about the effects of smartphones on children. She has visited schools, helping to change school phone policy and started a new Instagram account where she shares free practical help around smartphones for parents.

Most significantly, she is writing a book, Screensaver: a Judgment-Free Guide to Your Child’s First Smartphone, which will be published in March 2026 by Profile Books.

This consolidates the best of the research Laura has looked into, presenting it in a digestible and accessible manner to parents.

Laura’s position is that parents don’t only have the stark choice of whether or not to give their child a smartphone.

“Parents seem to fall into two camps – those who have given their child a phone, and those who strongly advocate no phones until later teens. The former often feel judged for this choice or may struggle with their child’s phone, while the latter sometimes struggle with the practical side of this decision, for example if their child does not have access to useful apps or feels like they are missing out. But there is a middle ground. It does not need to be all or nothing.

“Having spoken to lots of academics and doctors it’s clear that all screen time is not bad in its own right. The aim is not to eliminate screens, but to be mindful and minimalist, so we use the right technology to meet our conscious aims, rather than overloading ourselves. Screens are fine used in moderation and for specific purposes.”

Laura points to the increasing availability of child-friendly technology, where it is possible to get a phone package with only the tools and apps parents want a child to be able to access.

She also stresses the importance of having family rules on phone use. “We need safety barriers around a child’s phone experience, such as no phones in the bedroom, or introducing phone-free times or spaces in the home, as well as clear boundaries around what they can and cannot do online.

“My message to parents when you give them a phone – and it is a 'when', not 'if' – is you need to prepare them for that day with support, education, and ongoing two-way conversations. There is no need to be terrified of smartphones, but equally, we cannot just throw them in at the deep end and assume they can handle this alone. We need to actively raise our children to be masters of their phones not to be servants to them.”

For more about Laura’s work on children and smartphone use, in the wake of her Churchill Fellowship, she can be followed on Instagram, LinkedIn or Substack.