Greystones' 'It Takes a Village' pact: no smartphones until secondary school

In the Irish town of Greystones, a voluntary agreement is gaining traction: parents commit to not giving their children a smartphone until they reach secondary school. Known as 'It Takes a Village', the initiative is led by a local school principal, who shared the community's approach with the BBC's Tech Life programme. A parent from Greystones also spoke about the decision, as concerns grow over the impact of screen time on younger children. The episode, released on 7 July 2026 and available for over a year, is presented by Shiona McCallum and produced by Tom Quinn. Elsewhere in the programme, a woman described how surviving a late-night attack inspired her to develop a wearable safety device. And in Sweden, an experiment let AI loose to run a cafe — the results were discussed on the show.