A SECRET army of school-gate mums could swing the election for whichever party wakes up to the damage smartphones are inflicting on kids, actress Sophie Winkleman declared today.
The Peep Show star said the hot-button issue was being sidelined by both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer despite it being a proper “vote-winner”.
Speaking on Never Mind The Ballots, the campaigner said: “I think they're quite ignored and they’re much more powerful than politicians’ realise and they’re going to have a big old say in this. It could be a big vote winner.”
A recent poll found 77 per cent of primary school parents want ministers to introduce a flat-out ban for under-16s on smartphones.
Winkleman also warned the Online Safety Act did not go nearly far enough on clamping down on social media companies.
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The law compels tech giants to flush out harmful posts on their sites with the threat of multi-billion fines.
But in a piece for today’s Sun alongside co-star Isy Suttie, she called the Tory flagship legislation “a bloated slow-moving fatberg that is never going to keep up with online dangers.”
And she warned the constant doom-scrolling is turning kids’ young brains into mush.
She said: “There has been far too much laxity in terms of letting children be on this rubbish. I think it’s a tragedy - and that’s not an understatement.
"I think a lot of children can’t focus anymore, they can’t read books anymore.
“It’s not just the awful online content they’re watching, it’s the fact they’re watching total garbage: very quick-fire videos, and teachers are saying they can’t focus for five minutes - and that’s brain damage."
She wants both leaders to commit to tough protections for under-16s accessing online filth via their mobiles.
Their demands have already gained backing of some Tory MPs including former teacher Miriam Cates.
Ms Cates said: "A generation of children are having their brains rewired & childhood stolen by smartphones and social media.
"These products were neither designed for nor tested on children. All the parties’ manifestos should include commitments to ending smartphone and social media use for under 16s."
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Winkleman and Suttie write in today's Sun: "Even if kids aren’t watching beheadings, violent porn or live torture, their young lives are being wasted and their concentration spans destroyed by endless ten-second videos of pure garbage.
"Not to mention the bullying that goes on once the school gates close, with our kids in their bedrooms and us parents oblivious."
Winkleman reckons that pledges to splash the cash on mental health support could be saved with a ban on smartphones.
She said today: "I think what I find frustrating is that I think both parties are pledging to spend millions and millions on the mental health crisis for young people, putting mental health professionals in schools and really going mad on spending.
"And if they just did this, I think they could spend a hell of a lot less."
