A pact to enable children to have a 'smartphone-free childhood' that has been signed by more than 34,000 parents is starting to gain momentum across Hertfordshire.

A total of 56 schools across St Albans and Harpenden have seen parents sign the pact to wait to give their child a smartphone until at least the end of Year 9 (age 14).

The full list of schools from which parents have signed the 'Smartphone Free Childhood' pact in the area is as follows:

St Albans:

  • St Michaels CE primary School
  • Cunningham Hill Junior School
  • Cunningham Hill Infant School
  • Prae Wood Primary School
  • Wheatfields Junior Mixed School
  • Wheatfields Infants’ School
  • Alban City School
  • Fleetville Junior school
  • Skyswood Primary School
  • Mandeville Primary School
  • St Peter’s School
  • Maple Primary School
  • Samuel Ryder Academy
  • St Albans High School For Girls
  • Beaumont School
  • Garden Fields JMI School
  • The Abbey CE Primary School
  • Killigrew Priamry School
  • Fleetville Infant School
  • Sandringham School
  • Camp Primary School
  • St Adrian RC Primary School
  • Aboyne Lodge JMI School
  • St Alban & St Stephen RC Primary School
  • St Columba’s College
  • Margaret Wix Primary School
  • St Albans Girls’ School
  • Batchwood School
  • Nicholas Breakspear School
  • St Albans School

Harpenden:

  • Crabtree Junior School
  • Aldwickbury School
  • Roundwood Primary School
  • St Nicholas CE primary School
  • High Beeches Primary School
  • The Grove Junior School
  • St Dominics RC Primary School
  • Manland Primary School
  • Wood End School
  • Roundwood Park School
  • The Grove Infant School
  • Harpenden Academy
  • The Lea Primary School
  • Katherine Warrington School
  • St Hilda’s School
  • Sir John Lawes School
  • The Kings School

Hertfordshire:

  • Bernards Heath Junior School, Bernards Heath
  • Bernards Heath Infant School, Bernards Heath
  • Redbourn Primary School, Redbourn
  • Radlett Preparatory School, Radlett
  • Hertsmere Jewish Primary School, Radlett
  • Sandridge School, Sandridge
  • Flamstead Village School, Flamstead
  • Beech Hyde Primary School, Wheathampstead
  • St Helen’s CE Primary School, Wheathampstead

Overall, 3,783 parents across 317 schools have signed up to the pact in Hertfordshire.

The petition was put together by grassroots movement 'Smartphone Free Childhood', who hope that the petition will push for a future of schools without smartphones.

The national pact currently sits at 57,756 children from 8,358 schools, with the number one spot held by Hertfordshire, followed by Surrey, South West London and then Hampshire in fourth.

'Smartphone Free Childhood' states: "We’re on mission to change the cultural norm that children are given smartphones, and challenge Big Tech’s ever-increasing colonisation of childhood."

It has three three clear goals:
1. Growing the national conversation about the harms of smartphones for children.

2. Empowering parents and schools to take collective action and create change at a local level.

3. Putting pressure on government and tech companies to help us protect our children.

You can read more about the movement and follow the results of the petition at www.SmartphoneFreeChildhood.co.uk.