P.H.O.N.E is a free customisable agreement to help parents and children set boundaries around the kids’ usage of smartphones and their behaviours.
The agreement criteria of P.H.O.N.E, which stands for, prepare, highlight, own, negotiate, and establish, has been developed with insights from research done by EE with thousands of families covering topics including screentime, phone curfews, and the use of monitoring tools. The research has revealed communication gaps and arguments that get families at crossroads around smartphone boundaries and safety.
It also points out that “9 in 10 adults (93%) argue with their children over smartphone use, while 39% of parents and 31% of 11-17-year-olds believe clearer guidelines over their devices and social media use would reduce family friction.” It goes on to say that “screentime is a particular sore topic for families, with over half (53%) arguing about it at least once a month. Other sources of family disagreements include children using their phone late at night (50%) and being distracted from schoolwork (47%).”
