Clare Fernyhough, founding partner of Smartphone Free Childhood, on reclaiming childhood from Big Tech
In the latest episode of Heads & Tales, Henry Faber sits down with Clare Fernyhough Reynolds , founding partner of Smartphone Free Childhood, the grassroots movement that's taken the parenting world by storm. Clare is a business psychologist turned digital wellness warrior, with a background in broadcast journalism at ITN and Channel 4, who now specialises in creating behaviour change within organisations.
What started as a simple WhatsApp conversation between two concerned mothers has exploded into a community of over 200,000 parents united in their mission to wrestle childhood back from addictive algorithms and big tech manipulation. Leading school engagement for SFC, Clare is on the frontlines of inspiring school leaders to make their institutions genuinely smartphone-free, bringing her collaborative leadership style and inclusion expertise to bear on one of the most pressing issues facing modern education.
🎙️ Episode highlights
The accidental revolution: Clare shares the remarkable origin story of how a casual WhatsApp chat with an old school friend about secondary school concerns snowballed into a 200,000-strong movement within days
The power schools don't realise they have: Why Clare believes school leaders massively underestimate their influence with parents, and how most families are desperate for partnership rather than opposition on tech issues
Government reality check: An inside look at the current political landscape around phone policies, why the watered-down Safer Phones Bill fell short, and why change is currently down to parents and schools working together
Beyond smartphones: Clare's controversial stance on all classroom technology - including why she believes apps like TT Rockstars are using the same predatory design as Instagram to wire children's brains for addiction
The tracking trap: Her provocative argument against location tracking children, suggesting it's teaching them the world is fundamentally unsafe and fuelling anxiety epidemics
Parenting in the digital age: Practical advice for new parents, starting with examining your own tech habits and understanding how distracted parenting creates validation voids that social media later fills
The trust breakdown: Clare's insights into why the parent-school contract has deteriorated post-COVID, with constant connectivity creating "keyboard warriors" and undermining educational authority