Original subtitles

This programme contains discussions of suicide and scenes that some viewers may find upsetting

Our daughter, she was 11 when she got a smartphone.

It's been the biggest disrupter of us and her, I think.

You know, I feel like I lose her to it quite a bit, you know? And...

And I miss her, you know?

EMMA: Like lots of parents, Matt and I are becoming increasingly

worried about the effects of smartphones and social media

on our children.

Over 90% of 11-year-olds own a smartphone,

and almost half of the nation's nine-year-olds

currently have one, too.

We have three kids.

Two of them are year eight and year 11,

and I really wanted to know what effects smartphones have

on that age group.

There are times when I definitely feel like I've lost them.

With research showing that a quarter of UK teens

are glued to their smartphones for more than five hours a day,

it's clear that something needs to be done.

NOTIFICATION TONES

One of the things that concerns me the most about the widespread

adoption of smartphones in children and adolescents

is its impact on sleep, mood, depression, anxiety, attention.

In a landmark scientific experiment,

a group of 12-year-old schoolchildren

are giving up their smartphones for three weeks.

Will locking away their devices make our kids happier,

healthier and more ready to learn?

And will this experiment prove that smartphones should be banned

until at least the age of 14?

PHONES BUZZ, NOTIFICATION TONES

Yeah. OK.

For me and Emma, being on our smartphones is part of our job.

But it's how much time our kids spend on THEIR smartphones

that's got us worried.

Some experts feel that smartphones should be banned

under the age of 16.

Some feel 14 is an appropriate age.

In the UK, there are limited laws in place to protect children online.

Recently, the Government issued a recommendation for schools

to prohibit the use of mobile phones during the school day.

I think, as parents these days,

we're really concerned with a lot of the threats that exist

outside our home.

We're perhaps not focusing enough on some of the threats that exist

within the home.

I don't really think social media is a safe place.

People make fun of you.

Sometimes you can get things that pop up that aren't what you want.

I saw this video on TikTok where it was like,

"If you don't like, then your mum will die."

Online bullying, sextortion, violent pornography -

these are just a few examples of the

harmful content our kids encounter,

and to worrying effect.

Teens with problematic smartphone use

are twice as likely to experience anxiety,

and 50% more likely to struggle with depression.

We're actually changing the fundamental nature

of what it means to be a child.

Across the country, a number of schools have started putting

smartphone restrictions in place.

We're following the Stanway School in Essex

as they take part in our total phone ban experiment.

So, we're feeling more positive about homework.

I like that.

A group of 12-year-olds will be giving up

all their digital devices for 21 days.

That's smartphones, tablets, laptops - even their gaming devices.

What I'm worried about with this phone ban is losing,

like, all the trends and stuff.

It's like if you're boring, people won't want to be friends with you.

Three weeks is a long time if you have it every day

for six hours or so.

That's a long, long time.

The children will be monitored throughout

by researchers from the University of York.

ROBOTIC VOICE: Eyes closed.

DR CHATTERJEE: This experiment is the first of its kind.

No one ever before has measured this scale of digital detox

for this length of time.

I don't know what I want for breakfast.

There's lots of eggs and there's yoghurt.

Matt and I will be joining the students,

and giving up our devices for 21 days too.

I think we've signed up to the experiment

because we're living it. Yeah.

You know, we're going through it with our kids

and we have no idea how to navigate this.

And we're worried, we're scared.

Everything we're seeing is negative, but we don't know how to stop it.

Our kids first had a phone

when they went to secondary school, didn't they? Yeah, they were 11.

It feels like everybody has one and THEY want one.

My older two, like, I remember sitting on the couch once

and the TV was playing, and we were all on our phone,

and I was like, "Oh, no, this is not good."

Personally, for me,

I wish that I'd never given them a smartphone.

I feel like it's on us,

because we should be the ones setting the example, shouldn't we?

Yet we are also heavy phone users.

It really feels like something like this is really necessary,

now especially, because it feels like things are escalating really quickly.

Can we move course slightly?

Because this seems to be heading for disaster.

Stanway is your average comprehensive school.

We face the same problems that every other school

in the country is facing.

LIVELY CHATTER

It's sad when the kids talk about,

"Oh, all I did last night was, I was just on Snapchat or TikTok

"until 1:00 in the morning."

Their lives are lived through phones, those kids.

12 to 13-year-olds,

you're starting to expose to the beginnings of an adult world.

How much are smartphones dictating their experience?

You have access to quite harmful content online -

bullying, body image issues,

suicide encouragement sites and things like that.

There are things that you would not want anywhere near a young person.

Social media has had an impact on mental health at Stanway.

There are more and more kids becoming anxious,

and almost anxious to the point where they can't attend school.

I've been in pastoral now for six years.

There was a couple when I first started.

Now you're looking at two dozen per year group.

ALEX: Right, guys, do you want to come in, please?

Find a space, please.

I have, like, anxiety and it started in secondary school.

And it only really happens at school.

And I also get, like, panic attacks.

At the start of the year, I was having three a day.

Right, today's lesson - first task, you've got the fat pens.

Miss Deighton will kill me if you use these on them.

Don't use these.

I still get really, really anxious at night.

And I get a lot of nightmares in the middle of the night.

Can someone else write?

When I got my first phone, I think I was four.

And then I'd used my mum's phone before that.

My phone use,

I think it was about four hours today,

but before, in the summer holidays, it was nearly ten.

Wow, you guys are going for it.

I would wake up every morning and have, like, 2,000 messages

on my phone.

I think the most messages I've had was, like,

3,000 just from one group chat.

I wouldn't say I'm addicted to it,

but it is like one of my main priorities.

BELL RINGS ALEX:Right, guys,

can you tuck your chairs under, please?

When the bell rings, it's quite exciting

because I haven't been on my phone,

so it's like a moment of relief just to go on it.

The Stanway teachers are hoping the total phone ban will result in

a number of improvements in their students' learning.

A big thing for me is how it affects their sleep,

and whether we notice that in school.

Some of them, their phone use isn't monitored at all at home,

and they're up until 2:00, 3:00 in the morning.

So, I taught Jess last year.

Very studious, often put her hand up.

You know, are things going to improve perhaps

because she doesn't have her phone?

In terms of concentration,

Liana, when you get her focussed, she works really hard.

But that focus kind of blows a little bit hot and cold.

The University of York research team have designed a 21-day ban -

a sufficient time frame to see a difference

in the students' physical and mental health.

All you need to do is press the spacebar when you see a number,

but not when it is a three.

But before they can begin,

they have some essential pre-ban testing to complete.

We'll be monitoring them before and after,

but critically, we'll also be monitoring them

throughout the study itself -

minute-by-minute fluctuations in things like well-being, sleep,

brain alertness and cognitive abilities.

The students will be wearing special smartwatches

to track their biological responses to the experiment,

and an EEG will measure the cognitive effects of the ban

on the brain.

Nothing can go wrong, right?

Absolutely nothing can go wrong. Like, I can't get electrocuted?

No. No, no, no.

PROFESSOR HENDERSON: This total ban allows us to

really push things to the extremes.

So essentially, we'll be able to reveal whether taking phones away

wakes up the brain, puts it in a better state

for positive well-being and learning.

With all the testing now complete, tomorrow a group of 12-year-olds

will have all their electronic devices locked away in this box

for three weeks.

What does Dr Chatterjee hope this total ban will achieve?

Hi! Hey, how are you doing? Hey!

Have a seat. Thank you very much.

We are part of this experiment,

and one of the guinea pigs, along with the kids.

You are very much a man of science.

Do you feel like we can see a difference in three weeks?

I would be very, very surprised if we don't see improvements

in things like sleep, mood and attention.

But you never know until you test it.

One in four children, we think, are using smartphones

in an addictive or compulsive manner.

Now, what's really interesting is,

the studies which have looked at this show that

they're losing grey matter.

What's grey matter? Well, grey matter is the part of the brain

that's involved with things like processing information

and our thinking.

Really interestingly, that pattern is very similar to the pattern

we see in people with substance abuse or addiction problems.

EMMA GASPS

Oh, my God.

I've seen so many teenage boys over the years come in.

They can barely look at me in the eye,

and they're basically concerned about their use of pornography.

So, we know that one in ten nine-year-olds

have already seen pornography. EMMA GASPS

Oh, my God.

One in four 11-year-olds have seen pornography.

Wow. Yeah, I mean, I...

Nine years old.

So, are these kids actively searching for porn,

or are they being served it?

We know that, particularly with most young boys,

the first time they access pornography,

they've not searched it out.

It's popping up.

That is mind-blowing.

We've got some research which is showing us

that if you're a first-time user

and you go on one of the world's most popular pornography sites,

you will be exposed to non-consensual sex acts or violence.

So a child goes on a porn site for the first time,

and they will see non-consensual sex and violence?

Yeah.

And because there's no proof of what your real age is,

you can just put any old age and you can get on that site.

Yeah.

That's terrifying. I mean, that's terrifying.

I know there are parental controls... Yeah.

..but it's not always easy for them all to put on the parental controls

and know how to use them. Be on top of it, yeah.

Do you know what I mean?

I wouldn't even know how to put an age restriction on your internet.

I thought you'd done it on their devices.

No, I didn't know how to do it on their devices.

I think you can do it with your internet supplier.

Don't say that, because I'm the one who's sorted all the phones out.

You said that you were putting them on their devices.

Did I? Yes!

No, no, because I put age restrictions on, like,

Fortnite and things like that, and...

I don't know. I'll sort it out.

Bloody hell.

I mean, my brain is fried...

That was really intense. ..after that.

And I can't help but, one - feel like I'm failing as a parent

when it comes to online use.

And those statistics for porn have literally made me want to

run home and check everything.

I think it just kind of spurs you on, doesn't it?

It's about going, "Look, this is a real problem." Yeah.

"And we can ignore it for a while and hope for the best,

"or we can start doing something about it now."

And hopefully something that can create a bigger conversation

and bigger change.

BELL RINGS

We've heard from the experts how smartphones are affecting our kids,

but I want to hear first-hand what the Stanway students think.

I haven't been on a school bus for years.

I haven't been on a BUS for years. Did you get a school bus?

I used to get a school bus, yeah.

Is it this one?

Find a seat.

Jessica is one of the students taking part in the phone ban with us.

How are you feeling about the experiment?

I'm still quite shocked I actually, like, signed up.

That you've agreed? That I've agreed to do it.

Do you use your phone much at school?

What are the rules?

Phones should not be seen, not be heard.

And if they are, then they'll be confiscated,

and you have to go and collect them at the end of the day.

And how many kids follow those rules?

Ten?

EMMA LAUGHS

Hello!

Oh, did you have a nice time at school? Yeah.

I'm Emma. Hello, Emma. Jenny.

Hi, Jenny. Nice to meet you.

How old were you when you first got social media?

I think it was ten.

I got it on my tenth birthday.

Right, and what did you get?

I got TikTok.

How did you feel getting TikTok?

At first, it was like a really nice sort of sense of community

because it's like, "Oh, these people like what I like."

And then I got closer with this girl.

She starts asking me some funny questions.

Like, in an inappropriate way,

or just in a way where things started to not make sense?

Like, "Oh, what's in your photo albums?"

And just, like, really personal things that no one... Right.

You wouldn't want to really share that online.

I answered a lot of her questions,

and then eventually it got to something where I thought,

"This isn't right." Something's not right.

So I put, "Oh, no, sorry, I've got to go."

And she was saying, "Oh, no, I need you to stay here with me."

And it was like pressuring me, almost, into staying.

And I remember one time I was in the bath,

and because I was so concerned about this person,

because I thought she was real,

I had my phone, like, next to me in the bath,

making sure she was OK.

And then I go back onto TikTok the next day

and she's made a full-blown hate page.

And that's what got made for me as a ten-year-old.

I was so upset.

Even people in the comment section were saying,

"She's only a little girl. What has she possibly done?"

That's what made me...

I put everything down for two years.

And did you ever find out who it was?

All I can remember is that one time I was on a FaceTime call,

and she was showing me, like, her screen on her iPad,

and her iPad suddenly died, so it went black.

And in the reflection, I could see someone holding a phone

who definitely wasn't an 11-year-old girl.

I don't know if it was a man or a woman.

I suspect it was a man.

It's awful, isn't it?

I mean, it absolutely terrifies me as a mum of kids your age.

How much do you think that your mental health was affected

when that happened?

I wasn't getting enough sleep at night.

I was worrying that something was going to happen.

It made me feel a bit stupid,

because I was sort of thinking to myself, "How did I fall for this?"

And especially... Because you were ten!

I know, but...

Isn't that awful, that you're thinking that it's your fault?

Sorry. I'm so sorry.

That conversation with Jess has left my head all over the place.

People posing as young kids to make friends,

and you're really not knowing who you're talking to.

That was my biggest fear coming into this.

That was what I thought...

..you know, the dark parts of social media were.

And even though we're at the beginning, you know,

it's becoming very aware very quickly that there's a whole

host of shit going on that you think you know about as a parent,

but you really haven't got a clue.

Can you get off the bike, please?

It's the morning of the phone ban.

Good morning. Can you stick that blazer on for me, please?

I think you're not gonna last a week.

I think you're gonna last a minute.

I'm not really looking forward to giving up my phone.

So nervous!

I don't know what this thing's gonna be like.

I think my body's telling me that it's going to be bad.

I feel strange - a sign that it could be bad.

I can't believe I'm not going to have my phone

for three weeks.

It's going to be like in the olden days. Yeah.

I'm already quite excited about not receiving phone calls

from certain people, and not a WhatsApp going off

that then I think about till four in the morning.

"Oh, my God, what am I going to do about that?"

That's quite exciting. Yeah.

Everything else about it is awful.

I reckon in the first, like, week or few days,

I'll be like, "Give me my phone back!"

But, yeah, you're not going to do well.

There's no way.

This is going.

And because this is going,

I'm replacing it with this...

..a brick phone for emergencies,

a CD player and headphones.

I actually realised that the only CDs I have are my own.

MATT CHUCKLES

So I won't be packing those.

Once this goes, that's it.

I've got to be honest, I'm quite worried about my phone use.

The word "addiction" gets batted around quite a lot

when it comes to phones,

and I found that a bit weird

from someone who is a recovering drug addict.

But when I think about it, I AM addicted to my phone,

because when I'm without it, I crave it.

When I'm not on it, I think about it.

It's only 21 days.

If anyone needs to get hold of me, they'll get hold of me.

I act the same way about this device as I have about substances

in the past.

I mean, now or never, right?

Impending doom.

Here we go.

Come on! Quickly!

One in five students in school are spending more time on their phone

than they are on their education.

That's a ratio we need to readdress.

I'll hold your hand. Thanks.

Don't worry, I've got your back.

Thanks very much. I appreciate it.

Have you seen that thing, The Cube, that TV programme?

That looks like the box, but if the box was tiny.

At least my phone's being treated well. Yeah.

Hello! Hi! ALL: Hello!

How are you feeling? Fine. Fine?

You look nervous.

Are you nervous? Yeah. Not really.

OK. It's finally here. Yeah.

No.Yep, it's happening, guys! EMMA LAUGHS

It's happening. There's a few shaking of the heads.

Right, this is 21 days with no smartphones.

There is no access to iPads.

No access to laptops unless it is for school purposes.

So this is where you say goodbye to scrolling.

Oh...no.

That's my life.

DR CHATTERJEE LAUGHS

I feel like I'm the bearer of bad news. Absolutely.

You say goodbye to social media...

No! What?!

..and probably most importantly for you lot,

you are going to say goodbye to your Snapchat streak.

LIVELY CHATTER

DR CHATTERJEE LAUGHS

I bet you're all thinking,

"Why on earth are we doing this", right? Yeah.

Yeah. EMMA LAUGHS

We're also feeling the same, because we are doing it as well.

Yeah. Which is terrifying.

How are you all feeling?

I'm looking forward to getting my phone back.

LAUGHTER

OK, so listen, now is your time - if you want to -

to send any last Snapchats, TikToks, messages.

Are YOU actually doing it?!

I'm doing one too.

Scarlett, you're up first.

Hi, Scarlett. Hi.

How are you feeling? Scared. Yeah?

What are you going to miss the most about your smartphone?

Oh, loads. Like TikTok, Snapchat, everything.

Yeah. I love my phone.

Can I say bye?

Yeah.Love you.Aw!I'll miss you. LAUGHTER

See you soon.

APPLAUSE Well done!Well done!

Harry W. Oh, boy.

APPLAUSE Well done.

Yes, Harry!

How does it feel?

Horrible.

Theo, what is the one thing you think you're going to miss the most?

My phone,

because I just won't have anything to do.

Since the dawn of time, kids didn't have phones.

I don't know how they coped, but...

I think the kids are going to find not having their phones hard.

I think that you'll probably find that some,

where their lives revolve around it,

they're going to find it near to impossible.

How are you feeling, Liana?

A little bit sad.

A little bit sad? It's my life.

Yeah. Yeah.

I'm actually really excited.

Are you? Are you? Great.

I sort of feel like it's going to be a weight off my shoulders, almost.

Yes! Yeah! Absolutely.

Oh, Miles is going straight for the drop.

How are you feeling, Miles? Fine.

I nearly gave up because my dad did it without me asking.

Oh, what, he signed up for you without you knowing?

Yeah. Really? But I'm doing it now because I get £5 a day, so...

Oh, do you really? MATT AND EMMA LAUGH

That's a good deal. It's a win-win.

It's a win-win. Yeah!

APPLAUSE

You feeling all right? No.

Come on, Isaac! Pop it in.

Yay! Yes! Yes! Well done, mate!

In it goes. Well done.

Thank you. Well done.

Right, teachers.

Oh, there's a lot of stuff in there, isn't there?

Yeah. Yeah.

APPLAUSE

Alex, up you come, mate.

I'm kind of doing it for me, but also to set a bit of an example

and be a bit of a role model, because I hope they know

that I'm going to find it just as hard as them.

Yay! Come on, mate! Well done. APPLAUSE

I think we're done, aren't we? Almost. No.

I'm literally like, "Have it!"

In! Come on, Matt.

See you soon. He's with you, Scarlett.

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE Well done, guys.

So, this is the big moment.

Yes! I love you!

Go!

THEY ALL CHANT: Do it! Do it! Do it!

Yeah! There we go.

And it's locked.

The experiment has begun, guys!

Good luck.

PRODUCER: How did you feel the moment you saw your phone

go into the box?

Traumatised. Like, it's finally happened.

"Oh, my God, I've just put my life in there."

"It's completely gone."

A bit dramatic, but... No!

Today was good, but also really scary because, like,

I tapped my pocket and I thought, "Oh, my God, where's my phone gone?"

I wish that I could just click my fingers and it's all over.

So sad that I've got to leave it.

I'm too sad... I'm too sad to cry.

Hello! Hi!

Wow, there's lots of you! There's lots of you!

You all right? Hi, everyone.

We know the students have found

parting with their beloved devices difficult.

But do their parents have any concerns about the experiment?

I mean, I really don't know how Harry's gonna cope

without his phone for three weeks, if I'm honest.

But it will be nice to interact with Harry more,

because he's constantly glued to a screen.

Scarlett came home yesterday

and said about how long she spent on her phone.

It was, like, nine hours and I was absolutely mortified.

We want her to get the art of conversation again, face to face,

rather than it being on a device.

Thank you so much -

not just for coming here today, but also for handing over your children.

LAUGHTER

We are not babysitting. LAUGHTER

Excited, apprehensive?

A bit of both. A bit of both? OK.

Well, listen, guys, yes, I'm a doctor, but I'm also a dad.

There's nothing here about making people feel bad.

I think we're all trying to do our best in a brand-new world that,

frankly, we didn't grow up with.

We're never going back, right?

These devices are here, and they're here to stay.

It's really a question of

which aspects of this modern technology are enhancing our lives,

which aspects are actually harming us

and potentially affecting our brains and our bodies?

I don't know about you, but I love a tracking app. Yeah.

We 360 our kids everywhere.

All the time. Yeah.

And I want them to have a phone,

because I want them to be able to call me in an emergency,

or vice versa.

The main consideration I have is,

how am I going to know where Harry is?

Is he going to be safe?

Will he be waiting where I need to pick him up

at the end of the day?

Because normally you just pick up your phone and you call them.

So it's nice to know that other people

have the same apprehensions as I do.

How many of your kids, when you take their devices away, say, "I'm bored"?

Well, I've had this,

and I said, "I don't know. Let's get some board games out."

"Oh, that's boring."

Boredom is actually really good for us.

You have to be able to sit with your own feelings.

And if you can't do that,

I think you are setting up a whole host of potential future problems.

These devices are so tempting.

Most things are boring next to a smartphone.

What are you hoping to see happen during this experiment?

Just to kind of get my child back a bit,

because he's just always got his head on YouTube.

Do you feel like you've lost him a bit?

Yeah, because when he gets banned from it and you take things away,

then you get your child back again.

You get that interaction.

Yeah. Yeah.

But yeah, it'll be nice to have him back.

There must be a way where we can have technology in our lives

without it... Taking our kids. ..losing your kids.

Yeah. There must be. Yeah.

I hope you all get them back.

Thanks, guys. Thank you. Have a lovely evening.

Cheers. Thanks, guys.

PHONES BUZZ, NOTIFICATION TONES

I could have stayed and talked to them all night long.

Absolutely.

Do you know, it made me feel quite relieved. Yeah.

You know, because we're not the only ones. Yeah.

We all love our kids,

and we're all just trying to do the best for our kids.

Yeah, totally.

And we've all made mistakes.

And also, we don't have all the answers.

But the answers we do have seem to be screaming at us.

And hopefully this experiment will give us a lot more information.

I'm excited.

I'm excited.

Matt and I are taking part in a smartphone ban experiment

with 12-year-old students from the Stanway School in Essex.

I can barely work this. Right, there we go.

It's our first evening without our devices.

The children have been given cameras to record personal diaries.

Why do we have to record this, again?

Because we're keeping a diary. Why?

To monitor how you're feeling about being without your phone.

It's like taking everything that you find fun,

and that you do, away from you for 21 days.

It's annoying.

It's about half-seven-ish at the minute

and I've sort of run out of things to do,

I feel like, at this point.

I'm already bored out of my mind.

The last resort is me having to read a book, so that will be fun.

I haven't read an actual book in, what, like, four months?

So, um... DRILY: Yay!

I keep going to reach for my phone then realise I don't have it,

but other than that, it's going pretty well, I'd say.

So now I'm going to go to bed.

I'm sure you're supposed to use something else but spit.

But this is working really well.

LAUGHTER

Emma and I are getting ready for our first evening -

and red carpet event - without a smartphone.

How are you finding it, babe?

I've had anxiety all day.

Yeah.

And all day, I feel like I haven't breathed properly, because...

..I feel out of control of my life.

I mean, I've felt it on you, babe.

I've felt really cut off.

Yeah.

So when the kids talk about, like, that's how they socialise...

..I kind of get what they're saying, because I feel isolated.

I feel isolated and like I'm not in control of my own life any more.

Phone-free NTAs? It's great.

What do you mean? From a phone point of view?

Look at all these phones around. I know.

You don't need one, do you? You don't have to bring a phone.

Fingers crossed, someone will take a picture.

We survived our first smartphone-free night...

..but how are the kids' boredom levels this morning?

I did miss my phone.

Did you wake up thinking about that, Ally?

Yeah.

So how else are you going to fill your time?

I don't know.

Maybe sit there bored stiff.

You've got a little way to go yet, Ally, haven't you?

I might be able not to manage the full 21 days.

What number do you want that to say, then?

21. 21.

PRODUCER: How long do you think you'll last?

Well, maybe a good couple of days.

Bye. Bye.

BELL RINGS

ALEX: Dude, tuck your shirt in, please.

Thank you.

Do you know what? I really struggled last night.

I got to the end of the day and I was like,

"Oh, I haven't got my phone."

So I felt a little bit lonely, to be honest.

I do actually need these too, so I'll take some of those.

A couple of students in my year eight class that I've just taught

gave their phones up yesterday, and I asked how they were coping.

Didn't want to talk about it - it's early in the morning.

But they seem to have got through their first night.

I wonder whether after a couple of days and their friends

are talking about things that they've not seen yet on TikTok...

..they might begin to notice a bit more.

Bless them.

TikTok is the most popular social media platform for kids in the UK

between the ages of four and 18 years old.

On TikTok, I spend, like, three hours a day.

I could probably be on Snapchat and TikTok

for around seven to eight hours.

The video-sharing social media platform is more popular

with children here than any other part of the world,

and is typically viewed for more than two hours a day.

This is going to be interesting.

Our kids are constantly asking if they can have TikTok

on their devices.

"Start". "English".

VOICE-OVER: So Emma and I have been given two brand-new phones

to conduct a mini experiment.

We'll be posing as 13-year-old first-time users

to see what content we're served.

We're also going to set these up with brand-new email addresses.

It's just a pure clean slate. A pure blank slate, yeah.

VOICE-OVER: Emma and I were given expert advice

on how to conduct this mini experiment.

So, to use TikTok, you need to enter your birth date.

Right, so this means that they'll see how old you are

and customise your experience based on your age, is what they're saying.

The first video I've got is police vans going down the street.

I've got a girl pouting and eating strawberries.

I'm getting lots of roller-coasters.

I've got that supermarket one that you got. Yeah.

I'm getting so many roller-coasters.

"Police smash front door to arrest riot suspect."

I've got a baby.

"Rat-sized spiders".

I've got something about best friends.

Someone making some kind of pudding.

At the minute, I've had nothing that scares me.

I mean, I'm getting a lot of, like, disaster videos.

It seems to be getting more targetted.

Over the next four hours,

a producer scrolled through both phones as a child might,

viewing and saving content,

which will have fed an algorithm that then recommends similar videos.

Oh, my God!

The video to this is...

This is Minecraft.

This is a Minecraft video...

This is what my eight-year-old plays. ..and a 911 recording

of a man beating his wife and the daughter screaming for help.

And look, if you like it, you see part two.

So you find out what happens. Oh, my God, "Like for part two."

What are you getting?

I'm just getting girls.

"She's not herself right now.

"Her head doesn't know how to feel.

"She's reached her breaking point."

Oh, my God.

"Does anyone else understand that there is no point in life?"

What?! This is some young girl.

"If I don't make it past 18,

"I want this song played at my funeral."

Jesus Christ.

"If the voices win, just know I love you."

I mean, I don't know what to think about this.

Like, it just seems so...

..dark.

Within just four hours,

two supposed 13-year-olds were served numerous videos

featuring suicide ideation and extreme violence.

How is this allowed to happen?

It's just not what I thought it was. Yeah.

I mean, I know you hear stories about what can be found on there,

but finding and searching for something is very different

to it being served to you the first time you go on there

as a 13-year-old.

I mean, surely if you put in your age at the beginning,

they should send you age-appropriate videos? Yeah.

I'd be worried about our kids consuming this stuff.

I mean, there's not a chance. Yeah.

Not a chance are they having it.

No.

We're three days into the smartphone ban experiment...

Are you actually going to come on the swing with me,

or are you just going to, like, hit weeds?

..and despite some early wobbles,

no students have given up on the experiment,

though they are struggling to fill their time.

I still don't understand how you can find this much entertainment

out of a stick.

It's quite annoying, isn't it?

When we're not playing with him, he's just like...

And it's just repetitive as well. Oh, it's constant!

The noise is just, "Dum, dum, dum, dum!"

How are you feeling today?

Still a bit nervous. Are you?

It's not over yet.

We've still got quite a few days to go.

Yeah.

How many messages do you guys think you'll have

when you get your phones back?

I have 300 a day.

I've started reading again, which is really nice.

I've started doing it on the bus.

And usually I'd just sort of put my earbuds in

and have, like, some music on,

and I wouldn't really talk to anyone,

but I'm talking to my friends a bit more now on the bus.

We've seen and heard some of the shocking content

our kids can access on their smartphones,

but as parents, there's only so much you can do to protect them.

We're off to meet Jenna, a mum from Cornwall who has experienced

every parent's worst nightmare.

Jenna, would you tell us about Bradley?

What was he like?

He was amazing.

I know every mum says that about their son, but he was.

He was such a character. Yeah.

He had an amazing sense of humour.

Everybody that met him just fell in love with him.

Was he a homebody? Yeah, absolutely.

We've got some of them.

LAUGHTER Yeah, yeah.

You've got some photos of Bradley, right?

Yeah. Can we have a look? Yeah.

Thanks.

Some of his many maths awards that he got.

Oh, wow! He was so smart, yeah, honestly.

He looks really happy.

He looks gentle.

He does.

That's the last pic I've got of me and him.

So, that was Christmas, and then he died in January.

So that's just, like, three weeks before.

Wow. Wow.

# Just sing a Christmas song... #

How old was Bradley when he got a smartphone?

Um, he was 11. Right.

I think he was in year seven. Yeah.

And he just used it for YouTube videos,

and to do a bit of googling and that sort of thing.

If ever he saw something that wasn't quite right,

would he tell you?

There was a YouTube video of a YouTuber

that had gone into an actual Japanese suicide forest,

and it had some quite graphic images on it.

Of actual suicides? Yeah.

So he'd seen... He'd seen that.

Woah.

After he'd seen that, did you see a difference in him?

He was probably a bit down.

Obviously I was a bit, as a mum, concerned.

And the night before we lost him, he was in his room.

So I used that opportunity to kind of talk to him and say,

"Is everything OK?"

And he talked to me quite openly that night,

and I didn't have any concerns.

Yeah.

Jenna, would you be able to talk to us about what you remember

of the day that Bradley died?

So, I was at work...

..and I got a text message.

And all it said was, "Come home now. It's Brad."

I assumed that it was a message that Brad had typed,

that his dad had said,

"Oh, text your mum, tell her that she needs to come home now."

I didn't think anything of it.

And when I got there, Brad's dad was in the road

and told me to get out of the road,

pull the car off the road because the ambulance was on its way.

And I said, "What... What do you mean?

"What's going on?"

And he said, "Brad's hung himself."

"What?" Yeah.

The first responders had got there, so they were...

..trying to bring him back. Yeah.

But they wouldn't let me see him.

And it wasn't until I saw them

putting him on the back of the ambulance..

..that I got to see him.

They kind of said, "We've been trying now for over an hour.

"He's not coming back."

So they said,

"We need you to tell us it's OK to stop trying."

You're just kind of existing...

..taking each minute as it comes,

because you just don't know what to do with yourself.

Yeah.

My whole world had just imploded.

From when he first saw that video,

how much time passed between then and when he passed away?

I think that video was uploaded at the end of the year,

and Brad died on January the 10th.

Oh, my God.

I mean... So weeks.

That's weeks.

Yeah.

How do you think it escalated so quickly

from seeing that first video to what happened that day?

He would obsess about things.

So I think the concept of suicide

became one of those interests for him.

At what point did you think...?

Not "think".

Realise.

At what point did you realise that social media

might have had something to do with what had happened to Bradley?

So, it was during the investigation, I suppose.

The day he died, he'd wiped his phone.

There was just one text message he sent to a friend...

..and it said something along the lines of,

"It looks like I'm going to get help for my problems."

We were sort of given bits of information

about what Brad had been accessing.

So, he'd been looking through threads about suicide and,

you know, how to.

Mm-hm.

And talking to people that he didn't really know,

people that would talk to about gaming.

Yeah.

Um...

Do you know what kind of conversations

he'd been having with them?

I think he was talking to them about...

About his plans.

I mean, it's just horrific, isn't it?

Brad was so trustworthy.

And he loved a rule - he didn't like to break rules.

Yeah. And, you know,

for him to access that kind of content,

he must have realised that wasn't a good thing.

Which must be so baffling for you as his mum.

There's a lot of questions I won't ever get answers to.

And he was...

He was so much more than what he did.

So much more.

You've never spoken about this publicly before,

so first, thank you so much.

What would you like to see change?

I just think children should have limited access to certain things.

I don't even understand why there are threads

discussing how to commit suicide.

Why does anyone need to have that conversation?

Yeah. Especially a child.

Yeah.

Do you think,

if he hadn't have had that access at his fingertips,

do you think he would still be here today?

Yes.

Absolutely.

That was tough.

Even though you think you're across everything, maybe,

things can still slip through the net,

no matter how cautious you are.

I don't see any way of dealing with this

without tougher age restrictions.

Otherwise, we're like, "Oh, well, that's the world we live in now.

"Let's keep destroying kids."

That can't just be the excuse.

And that can't be an excuse.

It's not good enough.

As one household, you're fighting a losing battle.

It's got to be us, it's got to be schools,

it's got to be tech companies, it's got to be government.

Everybody needs to play their part.

Then I'll have to do nothing all weekend!

The kids struggle in a smartphone-free world.

Can we just get through tonight?

Emma and I take things to Westminster.

In the time that we're trying to figure it out,

young people are dying.

You cannot meet those families without being shaken to the core.

And will the kids see a difference by the end of the experiment?

No other parent should have to lose kids.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media