Allison Pearson, self-described “libertarian at heart,” writes a surprisingly impassioned defense of the U.K.’s proposed smartphone ban for kids.

Something deeply sinister has happened to childhood in the last decade and a half, and anyone who denies it is simply not paying attention. Or they have never tried to wrestle an iPad off a demonically possessed nine-year-old. I have and it’s awful. After three hours on a screen, the sweetest kid is wired, agitated and voracious for more, a Jekyll unleashing his internet Hyde. . . .

That is why, with Starmer-based reservations, I support the proposed ban on social media for under-16s. In fact, I think children should be denied access to internet-enabled phones entirely. When I am prime minister (given the high turnover, must be in with a chance, surely?), I will require all schools to impose a total ban on screen-based learning, which is bad for eyesight, bad for hormone production, bad for attention spans, bad for sleep, bad for obesity and very, very bad for learning – which, you have to admit, is a not inconsiderable drawback in a school.

Read the whole plea in The Telegraph here.