Banning smart phones in schools

“God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains”. Sean Parker, early investor & the first president at Facebook

At a talk I attended last summer, a room full of teachers were asked to put their hand up if their time had been taken up by the following social media issues: cyberbullying, threats of violence and pupils seeing sexual content. Every hand went up and stayed up. This had become such a pervasive issue that one teacher, responsible for pastoral care, said social media related problems (from violence to mental health) took up her entire day. 

The testimonials shared on “Everyone’s Welcome” a website set up to detail abuse girls have experienced in schools, back this up. Girls talk about boys looking at pornography in the school corridor. Fights are filmed and posted to social media, and anonymous accounts are set up to bully other children.

We’ve all heard a troubling story haven’t we? I know of a Year 6 class WhatsApp group that had the 10 year old boys posting violent sexual comments about their teacher. I know of young girls being sent graphic sexual content. It’s accepted as a normal thing, and not as the crime it actually is.

In 2021 a chat group on Instagram was uncovered by the police called “suicide”. The girls, aged between 12 and 16, had met online and created a chat group that was only uncovered because three girls had gone missing from home and were found seriously unwell. No rules had been broken, said Meta, so the content had not been red-flagged. 

It was exactly this kind of behaviour that the French government sought to prevent by banning mobile phones in schools back in 2018. They said their law would improve concentration in class, while helping to prevent cyber bullying and the viewing of pornography. Now our government have just announced : ‘New mobile phones in schools guidance issued (19 February 2024) backs headteachers in prohibiting the use of mobile phones throughout the school day, including at break times.  

Many schools around the country are already prohibiting mobile phone use with great results. This guidance will ensure there is a consistent approach across all schools.’

In 2023 the Head teacher of Cumberland Community School found that pupils were spending as much as 12 hours a day on their phones and glued to TikTok. They got Year 11s to hand their phones in. “I didn’t have any self control & it was so distracting… I was getting 6s in English & today I got a 9.” Students saw their grades go up 50% when they gave up social media.

We can’t have conversations about adolescent mental health, addictions, self harming, bullying and abuse without analysing the role smartphones play. NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said “the NHS should not be left to pick up the pieces – gambling and internet firms have a responsibility to their users as well as their shareholders and should do their utmost to prevent rather than cash in on obsessive or harmful behaviour.”

Parents and schools must be part of this conversation too. We can’t keep hoping that our children will muddle through and dodge the worst of it.

What does your school do already? Do you welcome a ban? Let me know what you think.