Advanced Television

EE launches customisable P.H.O.N.E. Contract for families

August 13, 2025

EE has teamed up with TV presenter and Parent Ambassador Konnie Huq and the EE Youth Council to launch The P.H.O.N.E. Contract, a free customisable agreement parents and children can use to set boundaries around smartphone behaviour. The new P.H.O.N.E Contract, developed with insight from thousands of UK families, comes as EE’s new under 18s smartphone plans – Safer SIMs – and in-store online safety appointments become available.

The launch comes at a peak time for back-to-school preparations. Approximately 3.8 million families are set to debate the ground rules of smartphone use this summer while two fifths (43 per cent) of parents intending to buy their child a handset ahead of the new academic year are planning to do so from mid to late August.

The P.H.O.N.E. Contract has been developed following a wealth of insights on smartphone usage from the newly formed EE Youth Council, not-for-profit organisation Internet Matters, parent ambassador Huq, and thousands of families across the UK. It is a fully customisable downloadable document from the EE website, and covers topics including screentime, phone curfews and other situations when smartphone use is not allowed, as well as tools to monitor usage. It has been designed to feature input from both parent and child, ensuring young people feel heard in the decision-making process and can understand the rules being set.

The P.H.O.N.E. Contract follows research of thousands of families across the UK, which reveals clear communication gaps and family flashpoints around smartphone boundaries and safety. The insights reveal 9 in 10 adults (93 per cent) argue with their children over smartphone use, while 39 per cent of parents and 31 per cent of 11-17-year-olds believe clearer guidelines over their devices and social media use would reduce family friction.

The P.H.O.N.E. Contract sets out the situations where children must agree to tell their parents about any inappropriate behaviour and material they see online, including cruelty or illegal and adult content. When considering their online safety, over half of teens and tweens see being scammed as their biggest fear (51 per cent), followed by being bullied (50 per cent) or being exposed to adult content (48 per cent). For parents, however, their child being exposed to adult material like pornography is the biggest worry, shared by 68 per cent of adults surveyed.

Meanwhile, conditions around the amount of daily smartphone use are a key part of the new P.H.O.N.E Contract, ensuring families can put in place specific limits on screentime and set a switch-off time for devices.

By getting parents and children on the same page, the P.H.O.N.E. Contract will also seeks to defuse common smartphone rows. EE’s research shows screentime is a particular sore topic for families, with over half (53 per cent) arguing about it at least once a month. Other sources of family disagreements include children using their phone late at night (50 per cent) and being distracted from schoolwork (47 per cent).

Just over half of parents (51 per cent) would be happy with a national smartphone usage curfew for under-16s, rising to 63 per cent for kids under 13. Of those who support the curfew for under-16s, 70 per cent of adults want it to be 9pm at the latest (81 per cent) when considering a curfew for under-13s).

Huq commented: “All parents know how daunting it can feel to hand over more responsibility to your child.  With a smartphone, you’re excited to give over increased independence, but the risks can be a worry. EE’s P.H.O.N.E. Contract enables parents to agree rules with their children and have conversations that they might never have had otherwise. It’s all about creating a framework where families can feel confident about their digital lives.”

Categories: Articles, MNO, Mobile

Tags: , ,