Dan Walker wants to protect his children from trolls, after his own experiences
(Picture: PA)Dan Walker has revealed that he and wife Sarah have drawn up a “contract” with their children detailing how they can use their phones.
The 45-year-old TV presenter admitted that it’s the couple’s fear of the negative impact that social media could potentially have on their three children that led them to make the “strict” and unusual move.
“We are strict. When we got them their phones, we got them to sign up to [the contract and] we had a chat,” he admitted.
“The contract is... there are things we expect from you in terms of what you do with it and how you use it. If you cross the line, we will take it away for a period.”
Some of their rules include not allowing daughters Susanna, 15, Jessica, 13, and 11-year-old son Joe to keep their phones in their bedrooms overnight and inspecting the contents of their children’s phones.
The Channel 5 news host and his wife, who only allowed the children to have a phone when they started to walk home from secondary school, also check the websites they look at and don’t permit them to use social-media apps.
“They were behind a lot of their friends in terms of getting the apps like Instagram, but that is what we decided to do,” he told the Sunday Times.
Speaking about trolling on social media, which he’s received throughout his career and notably during his stint as a contestant on last year’s Strictly Come Dancing, Walker said: “That is never nice.
“I have a family to protect and look after and I take their safety more seriously than I take my own.”
In April, Dan announced he was quitting his role on BBC Breakfast after six years to move to Channel 5.
He said he would be presenting the channel’s flagship news programme, 5 News, and will also front other non-news programmes.
