VOA: European Parent Groups Plan to Ban Teenagers from Using Smartphones

If parents say "no" when a child asks for a smartphone, the response they are likely to hear is, "Everyone has one. Why can't I?"

如果家长在孩子要求买智能手机时说“不”，他们很可能会听到这样的回答：“每个人都有。为什么我不能有？”

But what would happen if the child’s friends did not have a mobile phone either?

但是，如果孩子的朋友也没有手机会怎样？

That is the way that some parents in Europe are thinking.

欧洲的一些家长就是这样想的。

They are concerned by evidence that smartphone use among young children threatens their safety and mental health. They believe that the more parents join their movement, the more powerful their ideas become.

他们担心有证据表明，幼儿使用智能手机会威胁到他们的安全和心理健康。他们相信，加入他们运动的家长越多，他们的想法就越有力量。

Parents in Spain, Britain and Ireland are using social media groups on services like WhatsApp and Telegram to talk about their plans. They want to keep smartphones out of schools. But for their plan to work, other parents have to refuse to buy children the devices before — or even into — their teenage years.

西班牙、英国和爱尔兰的家长正在使用 WhatsApp 和 Telegram 等服务上的社交媒体群组来讨论他们的计划。他们希望学校禁止使用智能手机。但要使他们的计划奏效，其他家长必须拒绝在孩子十几岁之前（甚至十几岁时）给他们买这些设备。

Elisabet García Permanyer got involved after she talked with another parent in a Barcelona park. Last year, she started a social media group to share information on the dangers of the internet with families at her children’s school.

埃莉莎白·加西亚·佩尔马尼耶在巴塞罗那的一个公园里与另一位家长交谈后参与进来。去年，她创建了一个社交媒体群组，与孩子学校的其他家庭分享有关互联网危害的信息。

The group, called "Adolescence Free of Mobile Phones," quickly grew and now includes over 10,000 members. The most involved parents are asking other parents to agree not to get their children smartphones until they are 16.

这个名为“无手机青春期”的小组迅速发展壮大，现在已有超过 10,000 名成员。参与度最高的家长要求其他家长同意，直到孩子 16 岁才给他们买智能手机。

"When I started this, I just hoped I would find four other families who thought like me, but it took off and kept growing, growing and growing," García Permanyer said. "My goal was to try to join forces with other parents so we could push back the point when smartphones arrive. I said, 'I am going to try so that my kids are not the only ones who don't have one.'"

加西亚·佩尔马尼耶说：“当我开始做这件事的时候，我只是希望我能找到另外四个和我想法一样的家庭，但它开始起飞，并且不断地发展壮大。” “我的目标是努力与其他家长联合起来，以便我们能够推迟智能手机到来的时间点。我说，‘我要试一试，这样我的孩子就不是唯一没有手机的孩子了。’”

Spain

西班牙

Police and public health experts have also been voicing concerns about the kind of materials that children can see on their mobile devices. Spain's government took note of the problem and banned smartphones from elementary schools in January. Now they can only be turned on in secondary school, which starts at age 12, if a teacher deems it necessary for an educational activity.

警方和公共卫生专家也对儿童在移动设备上可以看到的材料表示担忧。西班牙政府注意到这个问题，并于 1 月份禁止在小学使用智能手机。现在，只有在教师认为有必要进行教育活动的情况下，才能在 12 岁开始的中学打开它们。

Britain

英国

In Britain last year, a 16-year-old girl named Brianna Ghey was killed by two teenagers. Her mother demanded that social media on smartphones be limited for children under 16.

去年在英国，一名 16 岁的女孩布里安娜·盖伊被两名青少年杀害。她的母亲要求限制 16 岁以下儿童使用智能手机上的社交媒体。

Mother Daisy Greenwell, who lives in the area of Suffolk, England, and a friend, Clare Reynolds, set up a social media group called Parents United for a Smartphone-Free Childhood. It grew quickly and an organizer said it now has groups in every British county.

住在英国萨福克地区的黛西·格林威尔母亲和她的朋友克莱尔·雷诺兹建立了一个名为“家长联合支持无智能手机童年”的社交媒体群组。它发展迅速，一位组织者表示，它现在在英国每个县都有团体。

Ireland

爱尔兰

In Greystones, Ireland, eight primary school leaders, or principals, wrote to parents, asking them not to buy their students smartphones. Then the parents themselves voluntarily signed written agreements, promising not to let their young children have the devices.

在爱尔兰的格雷斯通斯，八位小学校长或校长写信给家长，要求他们不要给学生买智能手机。然后，家长们自愿签署了书面协议，承诺不让年幼的孩子拥有这些设备。

Thirty-eight-year-old Christina Capatina is a Greystones parent of two young daughters. She signed the agreement and said there were almost no smartphones in schools this school year.

38 岁的克里斯蒂娜·卡帕蒂娜是格雷斯通斯一位有两个女儿的母亲。她签署了协议，并表示本学年学校里几乎没有智能手机。

Unity is powerful

团结就是力量

Studies from Spain, Britain, and Ireland show that by the time children are 12, most have smartphones. In Spain, 25 percent of children have a cellphone by age 10, and almost 50 percent by age 11. At 12, this share rises to 75 percent. British media regulator Ofcom said 55 percent of children in Britain owned a smartphone between ages eight and 11, with the figure rising to 97 percent by age 12.

西班牙、英国和爱尔兰的研究表明，到 12 岁时，大多数孩子都有智能手机。在西班牙，25% 的 10 岁儿童拥有手机，11 岁时这一比例接近 50%。到 12 岁时，这一比例上升到 75%。英国媒体监管机构 Ofcom 表示，英国 55% 的 8 至 11 岁儿童拥有智能手机，到 12 岁时这一比例上升至 97%。

Over recent years, organizations, governments, and parents have been reporting that smartphone use by children is linked to bullying, mental health problems and loss of the focus necessary for learning. China moved last year to limit children's use of smartphones. France has a ban on smartphones in schools for children aged six to 15.

近年来，各组织、政府和家长一直在报告说，儿童使用智能手机与欺凌、心理健康问题以及学习注意力不集中有关。中国去年采取行动限制儿童使用智能手机。法国禁止 6 至 15 岁的儿童在学校使用智能手机。

The possible dangers have produced school bans on smartphones and online safety laws. But those measures do not deal with what children do outside of school with mobile phones. Parents and schools that have pushed for changes in their communities saw that it became possible the moment they understood that they were not alone.

潜在的危险导致学校禁止使用智能手机和制定网络安全法。但这些措施并没有解决孩子们在校外使用手机做什么的问题。推动社区变革的家长和学校发现，当他们明白自己并不孤单时，变革就成为可能。

Rachel Harper is principal of St. Patrick's National School in Greystones. Harper wants parents to work with their local school to organize phone bans. She said, "There's a bit more strength that way, in that all the parents in the area are talking about it."

雷切尔·哈珀是格雷斯通斯圣帕特里克国立学校的校长。哈珀希望家长们与当地学校合作，组织禁止使用手机的活动。她说：“这样一来，力量就会更大一些，因为该地区的所有家长都在谈论这件事。”

I’m Jill Robbins.

我是吉尔·罗宾斯。

And I’m Mario Ritter.

我是马里奥·里特。

adolescence – n. the period of life when a child develops into an adult

take off – v. (phrasal) to quickly become very popular

push (something) back – v. (phrasal) to change (a planned event) to start at a later date or time

bullying –n. the act of using threats and force to get others to do what you want them to do

focus – n. the ability to direct your attention or effort at something specific