Phones should be banned in school

THE Culture Secretary is encouraging schools to ban mobile phones in classrooms as they can be a distraction. I can imagine children texting each other during lessons.

ITV came up with a teacher who opposed the idea claiming that they can be a useful teaching aid. To teach what?

There is a more serious reason for banning phones. A clip was shown of a teacher taking phones off pupils and putting them in a drawer.

There were different types of phone and a tablet. One reason for school uniforms is to stop competing with each other in fashionable clothing items and adding to parental expenses.

The situation with mobile phones is similar. Children will try to outdo each other with up-to-date models.

There is also the question of affordability. Many families’ income is tight enough without having to pay for phones for each child although others seem to prioritise this above providing food for the family.

A child will pester its parents for a better phone to keep up with its peers thus causing family arguments, and so on.

It is also claimed the child is given back the phone at the end of the day to provide safety on the way home. Oh yes, so that they can be cyber-bullied, have the phone snatched off them or perhaps listen to music making them oblivious to things happening around them, putting them in danger with traffic etc. BRIAN TAYLOR, North Shields