The education secretary will examine school smartphone policies amid demands for a ban.
The education secretary will examine school smartphone policies amid demands for a ban.
Bridget Phillipson will assess whether school smartphone advice is effective amid demands for a ban.
The education secretary has ordered investigators to examine if English schools are banning children’s phones and whether they work. Parliamentarians are pressuring the government to address teens’ dangerous social media usage.
It is now official that politicians want all schools to ban cell phone use all day, not just during lessons but also during breaks and lunch.
Teacher Tapp, a teacher-survey app, reported last year that 48% of secondary schools prohibit phones at all times and just 9% collect them at the start of the day.
Labour voted against a Tory proposal for the Safer Phone Bill this week that would prohibit smartphones in schools, while the government opposes a social media ban for under-16s.
Last Friday, Ms. Phillipson claimed phones are “detrimental, disruptive, bad for behavior” and “have no place in our schools.”
The Association of School and College Leaders heard: “The government’s position is clear: you have our full backing in ridding our classrooms of phones”.
Furthermore, she said, “I have asked my officials to find ways for us to better keep an eye on what’s going on in the field.”
Separate Cambridge study on children’s social media and smartphone use was commissioned by technology secretary Peter Kyle.
A University of Birmingham research found that prohibiting phones in classrooms does not improve grades or mental health.
Academics found that spending more time on cellphones and social media led to lower outcomes.
According to research lead Dr. Victoria Goodyear, smartphone prohibitions “in isolation are not enough to tackle its adverse impacts”.
Sir Keir Starmer supported the premiere of Netflix’s Adolescence in Parliament and schools in the Commons on Wednesday. He told MPs he had been watching the documentary about the family of a 13-year-old child accused of brutally murdering a female.
Jack Thorne, the show’s writer, believes cellphones should be prohibited for kids under 16 and punished like tobacco.
