Mobile phones to be banned from schools – even at break times

MOBILE phones will be banned in schools under guidance to be issued to headteachers today.

The new rules back teachers in prohibiting phone use throughout the school day – including at break times – in a bid to minimise disruption and improve behaviour in classrooms.

While many schools already ban mobiles, ministers hope the guidance will ensure consistency across all schools. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said she wanted to give teachers the tools to ‘take action to help improve behaviour and to allow them to do what they do best – teach’.

In England, it is currently up to individual heads to decide policies on mobile phones and whether they should be banned. The guidance, which is non- statutory, instructs headteachers on how to ban the use of phones not only during lessons but during break and lunch periods as well.

It offers four different policies that schools can adopt to enforce it, including banning phones from the school premises, handing in phones on arrival at school, and keeping phones securely locked away at school.

a fourth option allows pupils to keep hold of their phones, provided they are never used, seen or heard. almost all children – 97 per cent – now have mobile phones by the age of 12, according to Ofcom.

Last year, a UN report recommended smartphones should be banned from schools to improve learning and tackle classroom disruption and cyberbullying. Unesco, the UN’s education agency, pointed to evidence linking excessive mobile phone use to reduced educational performance.

Several studies have found links between phone use and poor mental health among children – including anxiety, depression and low selfesteem – and there are growing concerns that pupils are using mobiles to bully each other and for sexual harassment.

Mrs Keegan has warned that the internet has taken bullying ‘to new levels’, with bullies able to ‘prey on their victims in the safety of their own homes’.

Last week, the mother of Brianna Ghey, 16, who was murdered by two teenagers from her school, one of whom had watched videos of torture online, and the father of Molly Russell, 14, who took her own life after viewing harmful material on social media, joined forces to combat online harm. Ministers have previously attempted to ban mobile phones in classrooms. Three years ago, theneducation secretary Sir Gavin Williamson launched a call for evidence on managing behaviour in schools – including the use of mobile phones.

But the proposed ban was ditched by his successor, Nadhim Zahawi.

The Mail revealed last October that Mrs Keegan was planning to order schools to outlaw smartphones.

Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said last night: ‘Growing up in today’s digital world provides immense opportunities but this should not come at the expense of our children’s wellbeing or education. That is why we have passed world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world for young people to be online. Today’s announcement will support parents and educators further.’