A nationwide smartphone ban in primary schools is a good idea, but would create a 'dilemma' for parents.

That's according to Newstalk Breakfast host Ciara Kelly, who was speaking amid calls for a nationwide roll-out of a smartphone ban in schools.

It follows a successful initiative across eight schools in Greystones, Co Wicklow.

The 'no smartphone' pledge could be extended countrywide and is something we can learn from, Education Minister Norma Foley has said.

Ciara said the ban makes sense, but it's not happening.

"My youngest has just done first year in secondary school... and actually, coincidentally, he went to one of the schools in Greystones that are involved in this smartphone ban," she said.

"It didn't exist at the time he was there, and he was the last kid in his class to get a smartphone.

"We had to hold a line that was quite tricky, actually, and quite difficult - and that's the dilemma that parents face.

"Do you make your kid the one that goes, 'My mum and dad won't let me get the phone'?

"I don't think phones are good for them: I think they over-stimulate them, I think they present them with all sorts of information they're too young for - including porn but not exclusively porn.

"I think they do jump on to social media websites and all those platforms ahead of the age they should, and I think it is very problematic".

A boy holds a smartphone with the TikTok logo on the screen. Picture by: dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo

Host Shane Coleman said such a ban would do no harm, but it may be too late.

"My worry would be will it actually change the culture [or] has the genie got out of the bottle?" he said.

"Will kids go, 'I can't bring my smartphone to school, but that doesn't mean I won't have a smartphone'".

Shane said he wondered if this approach would also break down along 'class lines'.

"I wonder is this an issue that will be big in middle-class, more affluent schools?" he said.

"What I am saying is in middle-class, affluent parents tend to be more involved in schools - that is reality.

"It's not a good thing but it is the reality.

"I just wonder is this something that will appeal more to liberal, middle-class parents?" he added.

Main image: Split-screen image shows Newstalk Breakfast host Ciara Kelly and a teenager using a smartphone