Limiting mobiles

Smartphones are only 20 years old, and yet for today’s children they are an accessory without which their lives would be unimaginable and probably unmanageable. Far more than a means of communication, they are a gateway to social media and all that entails. They can also be a distraction, especially at school. From September, France is to ban mobile phones from primary, junior and middle schools. Should the same happen here? Matt Hancock, the Culture Secretary, thinks so. He is urging head teachers to exercise discretion to reduce their use.

There is a problem. Many schools communicate with their pupils through mobile phones: changing lessons, announcing sports teams and setting homework topics. The technology can be used for educational purposes, saving schools the costs of computers. Moreover, parents expect to be able to contact their offspring when they are not at home.

There must be a halfway house between outright proscription and a free-for-all. In France, pupils will still be able to bring their phones to school but not allowed to access them until they go home.

If head teachers judge phones to be a distraction or suspect they are being used on the premises for online bullying they should stop their use. There is also evidence of an improvement in test results when phone use is limited. It has to be a matter for individual schools; but Mr Hancock is right to point out that what children want and what they need at school are not necessarily the same.