Concerned parents are calling on the Welsh Government to ban smartphones in schools in Wales over fears about their detrimental impact on children. They have set up a petition seeking to prohibit pupils from using the devices during the school day except for "exceptional circumstances".

"Smartphone use poses significant wellbeing and safeguarding concerns," the petition reads. "We are deeply worried about our children's social development and mental health and believe all pupils have the right to a smartphone-free school".

In just a few days, at the time of writing, more than 1,500 people have backed the appeal. It will be considered for debate in the Senedd if it gets more than 10,000 signatures. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter

READ MORE: 'Redundancies are inevitable' Funding for universities in Wales cut by millions

READ MORE: School puts CCTV in toilets to stop pupils being late to class

The parents behind the petition are members of national grassroots movement Smartphone Free Childhood, which was founded by two mums and a dad in February this year. Starting off as single WhatsApp group, it quickly expanded to 60 groups across Britain with a 60,000-strong community of parents. You can sign the Welsh petition here.

In addition to banning smartphones in schools nationwide, the movement seeks to push for tougher regulation on tech companies, raise awareness of the "mounting evidence" of the harmful effects of smartphones on young people, stop future generations of children from living "through a smartphone", and empower parents to delay giving their children a smartphone until ideally they are 16-years-old.

Cardiff mum Zena Blackwell, an artist and a member of the movement, is the author of the petition for Wales. The 47-year-old said she believes smartphones are "one of the biggest catastrophes in the history of humankind".

She said she has been "shocked to the core and left in tears" after researching the dangers of smartphone usage in childhood. "Phones have gone from being a tool with which to perform a task, to the centre of many peoples’ lives," she said, acknowledging that "most adults are addicted to their phones".

"But the effect smartphones are having on the mental health and wellbeing of children is what is really worrying. Personally, I was feeling so deeply saddened when I kept seeing primary and high school children coming out of school and walking along the pavements on their phones like zombies - often crossing roads whilst looking at them."

She has adopted "strict" rules for her children's phone usage. She will only allow her youngest child to have a "brick phone" when she goes to high school, and currently setting controls for the length of time her eldest child can use his device each day. "This is limited to an hour but I know that if I wasn’t so strict, he would easily rack up several hours per day and it would become a problem," she said.

When her eldest started high school in Cardiff last September, Zena said she felt "really disappointed" the school allowed pupils to use their phones during the day. "I hadn’t wanted him to have a smartphone at all but I caved in as he would have been ‘the only one’ without one," said Zena, who is an artist.

"I wrote to the school at the time to ask if they would be reviewing their policy in light of the discourse going on at the time in England about banning them in schools, but they weren't." After the Smartphone Free Childhood movement began, Zena felt "emboldened" to ask parents from her child's school if they felt the same - and found she wasn't alone.

They wrote a letter to the school with 183 signatures - but their appeal was dismissed. "I appreciate why the school doesn’t want to impose a ban because it wants to gain the trust of the pupils and encourage sensible use, but at the end of the day, we as adults know only too well how addictive and distracting they are; sensible use is nigh impossible," she said.

She added: "Ideally, I would love to see a nationwide ban on smartphones for under 16s but I think calling for a ban in all schools is a very important first hurdle." Zena and other campaigners in the movement cite the "highly addictive" nature of smartphones, with one study finding that one-in-five teens look at YouTube "almost constantly".

They highlight the correlation of phones and social media with mental health problems, especially among girls, and how mobiles are a "gateway" for children to access harmful content such as hardcore pornography, real-life killings, extremist content and self-harm advice.

They also have concerns about evidence that smartphones are reducing children's concentration levels and are "experience blockers" for youngsters, with American psychologist Jonathan Haight claiming they have "rewired" children's brains.

Statistics show a fifth of three to four-year-olds, 25% of five to seven-year-olds and 97% of 12-year-olds in the UK owns a smartphone, with the average 12-year-old now spending more than four hours of leisure time a day on screens.

If implemented, smartphone ban in all schools in Wales would follow similar bans in France, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and China, along with many UK and US schools.

Zena said the positive response the petition to the Senedd is a sign the "tide is turning". "I think most adults are starting to feel absolutely fed up with their own smartphone dependence and addictions and we are starting to see what it is doing to children," she said, adding: "Tech companies have complete control over all of us and that is terrifying, as their only objective is to make as much money as possible. Many tech bosses send or sent their kids to tech-free schools...that speaks volumes."

The Welsh Government said it does have any plans, or the powers, to ban mobile phones for young people - but governing bodies and headteachers ban phones in schools if they want to. In response to the petition, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We recognise the impact technology and mobile phones can have on the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

“Almost all schools in Wales have mobile phone policies that prohibit their use during lessons, but there is an element of discretion. Mobile phones can be used effectively to support learning, and it is important children and young people are taught about online safety, including the use of social media. The Education Secretary will be working with schools to ensure they have policies in place that reduce the wellbeing impacts of mobile phones and promote learning.”