“We are terrified by what we are seeing in our clinics.” This is not rhetoric. It is the lived reality of health professionals across the UK. On BBC Breakfast, Dr Sanjiv Nichani, senior consultant paediatrician and member of Health Professionals for Safer Screens, said what many clinicians have been warning for years: “There is no moral, psychological, educational, societal or pastoral justification for giving smartphones to children under 16. Absolutely none.” His warning comes as Britain’s leading medical bodies formally told ministers that children’s exposure to screens and online harms has reached the level of a public health emergency. Doctors from A&E, paediatrics, psychiatry, general practice and sexual health services have described the cases they now see every day. The damage is visible across development: • poor language, emotional regulation and delayed early development • falling academic performance across more than 80 countries • severe and chronic sleep disruption • addiction-level use (around 40% of girls spend 5–6 hours daily on social media) • withdrawal from family, learning and real-world friendships • grooming, sexual exploitation, radicalisation and violent content exposure As Dr Nichani explained: “What started as a way to connect people is now disconnecting them from families, education and society.”