I am delighted about the campaign to reduce smartphone usage among under-14s (‘The crux of all evil’: what happened to the first city that tried to ban smartphones for under-14s?, 7 May) but in West Yorkshire, where I work, we have run up against structural issues that make this impossible. The cheapest young person’s bus fares are only available via an app, which requires a smartphone. You can buy a monthly bus pass on a smartcard, but only in person and at limited locations. If your child needs a smartphone to get the bus to school, any hopes of not buying them one fall at the first hurdle.
Phil Sage
Skipton, North Yorkshire
• Regarding children’s appetites increasing after watching junk food ads (11 May), I wonder if there is a similar effect when Saturday Guardian readers look at the Feast supplement.
Martin Cooper
Bromley, London
• Many Germans in their 40s would be distraught that people think they were named after a film character and not in honour of the star English striker Kevin Keegan, who had three successful years at Hamburger SV (Letters, 7 May).
Leo North
Crewe, Cheshire
• An even better solution for an eco-friendly lawn (Letters, 8 May): on honeymoon in India, we saw an ox pull a mechanical mower, eat the grass in its breaks and naturally fertilise the soil. The lawns were luscious and no pollution.
Jeanette Hamilton
Buxton, Derbyshire
• Re cold callers (Letters, 8 May), I use Eric Morecambe’s method: “I am sorry, you must have the wrong number – I don’t have a telephone.”
Gerard Hastings
Céret, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
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