Galway star helps local school to launch smartphone-free initiative for pupils

Under the pioneering Smartphone Free initiative, pupils are asked to sign a contract not to own a smartphone while they are still in primary school.

And Matthew – one of the Tribesmen’s stars in that historic win over Dublin on Saturday – highlighted the positive aspects to getting outside, being active and healthy instead of spending time on "screens".

He also spoke about how important it was to have healthy habits. In keeping with promoting overall well-being, a wide selection of fresh fruit and vegetables was available for all children to sample.

The smartphone free initiative is coming from the school’s Parents Aassociation, according to chairperson Ann Marie Guihen.

"We are really delighted that Matthew has come in to launch this. There has been an excellent response – so I am sure Matthew helped in this. We hope this will help our children's learning, health and happiness as well as keeping them safe,” she said.

The move follows the advice of American experts who believe that you should wait to get your child a smartphone until at least eighth grade; pupils are on average 13 to 14 by then.

But statistics show that 42 per cent of American kids have a smartphone by the age of ten; by twelve, it’s 71 per cent – and by 14, it’s 91 per cent.

In the UK that figure is even higher with up to 91 per cent of eleven-year-olds owning one.

The consensus here is to steer clear of smartphones until the first year of secondary school at least – a move that this pledge would bring to fruition.

Pictured: Galway and Oughterard star Matthew Tierney with pupils of Scoil Chuimín & Caitríona, pledging to stay smartphone free until secondary school.