There's been even more than usual in the press recently about phones and young people.

Phones are terrible! They're addictive, deceptive, and lead to unrealistic perceptions; Phones are great! They connect them with their tribe and open up a world of wonder.

The reality for every child is different: the average is probably in the middle.

But what they are not, is the world.

Then they arrive at college with no idea how to talk to strangers and have to be taught social interaction and eye contact, to prepare them for student life.

I challenge anybody at any age, stuck in a room with a stranger and nothing else to do, to form a lifelong bond in five minutes.

But your desk partner in a band, the goalie on your five-a-side team, the person at the next easel in art class, or helping with a complicated manoeuvre on a sewing machine - that's different.

This used to be how we met each other. It still can be - if you have money.

Ham & High: Sheila Hayman says that there aren't enough affordable activities around for young peopleSheila Hayman says that there aren't enough affordable activities around for young people (Image: Sheila Hayman)

All primary schools used to have free music lessons, leading, with a bit of practice, to an orchestra or a band. The park had a football pitch that was free for a kickabout. Youth clubs and arts centres were there for the less sporty.

Where are they now?

Every football pitch in Camden now has to be hired by the hour.

One random example: Castlehaven in Camden, costs from from £75/hour at 11am on a Monday, to £110/hour at the  weekend. What teenager can afford their share of that, even once a week?

School music lessons have gone, and private lessons will cost you £20 upwards for every half hour. Groups are a bit cheaper, but in a group class, it will take longer to get to the point where you can enjoy the instrument.

Schools can no longer afford the equipment to run dressmaking or pottery clubs.

And so it goes on.

Doing a bit of digging - Wac Arts in Belsize Park has weekend classes for £4. Young Music Makers in Kentish Town has a choir for £4.95 a week. But that's still only an hour or two in the week; what are they to do the rest of the time?

It seems the real problem with phones may be much simpler than we thought: compared to almost everything else our children might be doing, they're cheap.