Smartphones to be banned in schools in UK

Sir Keir Starmer has announced that all schools in England will be required to implement a smartphone ban, following mounting pressure from the Conservative Party, educators, and parents.

Starmer had initially resisted calls for a ban, citing existing "non-statutory guidance" for headteachers to maintain phone-free schools.

However, Labour announced a policy reversal in the House of Lords on Monday night, as peers convened to vote on an amendment to the schools bill proposed by Conservative peer Baroness Barran.

The amendment, which passed with a majority of 107, would have prohibited students from possessing smartphones on school premises.

The Lords had previously voted in favor of a school phone ban in February.

Had the government not announced the policy reversal, the schools bill could have faced further delays in parliament.

Baroness Smith of Malvern, skills minister, stated that the government's amendment would "create a clear legal requirement that the guidance must be followed unless there is a legally justifiable reason for schools not to do so."

She added, "We've listened to concerns about how we support headteachers in delivering on this policy, and we have listened to parliament."

Bridget Phillipson, education secretary, had written to schools earlier this year, encouraging them to adopt new guidance stipulating that schools should be phone-free throughout the day.

The education department confirmed that the guidance would now be placed on a statutory footing.

"Mobile phones have no place in schools, and the majority already prohibit them. This amendment makes existing guidance statutory, giving legal force to what schools are already doing in practice," they stated.

Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott said the amendment was “fantastic news for headteachers, parents and pupils across the country”.

“For over a year, Labour dismissed this as an unnecessary gimmick, and just last week the education minister claimed the problem had already been solved,” Trott wrote on X. “I’m glad they’ve now listened, this is the right step for improving behaviour and raising attainment in our classrooms.”

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the statutory ban would not change much, given most pupils were already not allowed to use phones in classes.

“What would really be helpful is for the government to make funding available to schools for the safe and secure storage of mobile phones, such as storage lockers or locked pouches.”

Only 5 per cent of parents believe students should be allowed to use their phones during lessons, according to new polling from Opinium. 

Research by the children’s commissioner for England last year showed that 99.8 per cent of primary schools and 90 per cent of secondary schools already restricted the use of phones in schools. 

The UK government is still consulting on whether to impose an Australia-style ban on social media for under-16s. Starmer last week told tech bosses that while he believed social media could be made safer for British children, curbs on access would be “preferable to a world where harm is the price of participation”.

Source: msn.com