Latest news with #smartphoneban
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Oxfordshire children 'at risk' from mobile phones, parents say
A father has asked a council to support a campaign to ban smartphone use in Oxford's Abraham, a member of Smartphone Free Childhood, joined other parents at Oxford's Town Hall on called on the city council to help schools develop policies limiting pupils' access to mobile phones and social Susan Brown said while she had "enormous sympathy" with the campaign, the council was not the city's education authority and had no remit to instruct schools to do anything. The local authority was due to debate the issue during a full council meeting, but ran out of time before reaching the Miles, who represents the Summertown ward and was due to propose the motion, said it was about acknowledging the concerns of parents and teachers. The appeal comes as Oxford Spires Academy has already introduced an outright ban on smartphones for Year 7 to 11 pupils from September, in favour of basic brick Friday, another two fathers warned Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson they planned to take legal action against the current government Orr-Ewing from Oxford and Pete Montgomery, who lives near Lancaster, believe a complete ban on smartphones in schools would be the safest approach. Mr Abraham said: "There is a huge risk that if leadership on this issue is not provided, then we will see more schools struggle to deliver the educational values and concepts they strive so hard to deliver every day. "We will see more children suffer both physically and mentally."Ms Miles said she was is in favour of the council writing to schools and offering its support."This is a live debate, nationally and locally," she said."It's about giving that recognition to teachers and the parents in the schools in our city that we care and we acknowledge their concerns about this and we will communicate this to our colleagues in Westminster." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Minister to 'look carefully' at smartphone ban for schoolchildren
The newly elected president of the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture says he will be acting on policy around smartphone use among children "reasonably quickly".Former teacher Deputy Paul Montague took up the position in June after becoming the highest polling new candidate in the Guernsey to BBC Radio Guernsey, Montague said he was "so glad to be asked" about a potential ban on smartphone use in schools and was having important discussions with "experts in the field". He said the committee needed to "look carefully at what a ban means" but was of the opinion "a community led smartphone ban" was initially needed for primary aged children. 'Smartphones off and away' Montague said: "I've been in touch over the weekend with the minister for Education over in Jersey who like me, was the National Education Union rep."We're going to be discussing how Jersey have dealt with it, as they have a similar situation to us."Montague said he had also spoken to senior leaders in secondary schools to support schools and provide clarity on smartphone policies. "I guess we could describe the policy as smartphones need to be off and away in school," he said. "I think in primary schools we probably need to go further than that and be far more robust, but as I read more and more of the evidence and discuss more and more with groups of people, certainly that's something we're going to be acting on reasonably quickly." The former teacher, who has been in the education sector for more than 30 years, said any new initiative needed to be "properly evidence based and pragmatic" to avoid being counter-productive. Montague said smartphone technology was "so embedded into our lives" and it was difficult once you've "gone so far down that line to say lets move back against that".He said: "At the moment at least one of our schools, students are allowed, with permission, to take their phones out to pay at the cafeteria."There are minor areas as well, we have students who have to check insulin levels on apps on their phones, things like that.""This is why its not right for me in my first conversation on BBC Radio Guernsey to come straight out and say this is exactly what we're doing, there's still a lot of work to be done."
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Smartphone bans in Dutch schools have improved learning, study finds
Bans on smartphones in Dutch schools have improved the learning environment despite initial protests, according to a study commissioned by the government of the Netherlands. National guidelines, introduced in January 2024, recommend banning smartphones from classrooms and almost all schools have complied. Close to two-thirds of secondary schools ask pupils to leave their phones at home or put them in lockers, while phones are given in at the start of a lesson at one in five. Researchers surveyed 317 secondary school leaders, 313 primary schools and conducted 12 focus groups with teachers, teaching assistants, students and parents. Secondary schools reported that children found it easier to concentrate (75%), the social environment was better (59%) and some said results had improved (28%). Dr Alexander Krepel, a researcher at the Kohnstamm Instituut, said interactions between pupils had improved the most. 'It's not possible to secretly take a picture of someone in the classroom and then spread it in a WhatsApp group, so there's an increase in social safety,' he said. 'Especially in the breaks between the lessons, students would be on their phones and now they're forced to talk … Maybe they also get into a fight a bit more often but schools, teachers and students are quite happy with how the atmosphere is better.' Initial fears surrounding the ban proved unfounded, according to Freya Sixma, spokesperson for the VO-raad secondary education council, which represents schools and governing boards. 'There was quite a lot of protest at first from schools, teachers, students, parents, questions about how it would all work,' she said. 'But now you see that actually everyone is pretty happy.' The study showed in special schools, where exceptions can be given for learning support devices, about half reported that the ban had had a positive or very positive effect. In primary schools, smartphones did not have a huge effect before the ban, but a quarter were positive about it. Mariëlle Paul, the minister for primary and secondary education, said the national guideline helped classroom discipline. 'Teachers and school leaders indicated that if an individual teacher wanted to ban the mobile from his or her class it would always be a discussion,' she said. 'More inexperienced teachers would have difficulties enforcing that.' MPs could take a lesson from the results, too, Paul added. 'Even we as adults should admit that whatever is going on, the apps, WhatsApp, Snapchat or Instagram have a form of addictiveness. We once tried to do it for a debate on education … but that was pretty difficult.' Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion Statistics Netherlands reports that 96% of children go online almost every day, mostly through their phones. Last month, the caretaker government advised parents to ban social media for under-15s and limit screen time, while one MP has proposed a total ban on smartphones in schools.
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Dutch schools' phone ban has improved learning, study finds
Bans on smartphones in Dutch schools have improved the learning environment despite initial protests, according to a study commissioned by the government of the Netherlands. National guidelines, introduced in January 2024, recommend banning smartphones from classrooms and almost all schools have complied. Close to two-thirds of secondary schools ask pupils to leave their phones at home or put them in lockers, while phones are given in at the start of a lesson at one in five. Researchers surveyed 317 secondary school leaders, 313 primary schools and conducted 12 focus groups with teachers, teaching assistants, students and parents. Secondary schools reported children found it easier to concentrate (75%), the social environment was better (59%) and some said results had improved (28%). Dr Alexander Krepel, a researcher at the Kohnstamm Instituut, said interactions between pupils had improved the most. 'It's not possible to secretly take a picture of someone in the classroom and then spread it in a WhatsApp group, so there's an increase in social safety,' he said. 'Especially in the breaks between the lessons, students would be on their phones and now they're forced to talk … Maybe they also get into a fight a bit more often but schools, teachers and students are quite happy with how the atmosphere is better.' Initial fears surrounding the ban proved unfounded, according to Freya Sixma, spokesperson for the VO-raad secondary education council, which represents schools and governing boards. 'There was quite a lot of protest at first from schools, teachers, students, parents, questions about how it would all work,' she said. 'But now you see that actually everyone is pretty happy.' The study showed in special schools, where exceptions can be given for learning support devices, about half reported that the ban had a positive or very positive effect. In primary schools, smartphones did not have a huge effect before the ban, but a quarter were positive about it. Mariëlle Paul, the minister for primary and secondary education, said the national guideline helped classroom discipline. 'Teachers and school leaders indicated that if an individual teacher wanted to ban the mobile from his or her class it would always be a discussion,' she said. 'More inexperienced teachers would have difficulties enforcing that.' MPs could take a lesson from the results too, Paul added. 'Even we as adults should admit that whatever is going on, the apps, WhatsApp, Snapchat or Instagram have a form of addictiveness. We once tried to do it for a debate on education ... but that was pretty difficult.' Statistics Netherlands reports 96% of children go online almost every day, mostly through their phones. Last month, the caretaker government advised parents to ban social media for the under-15s and limit screen time, while one MP has proposed a total ban on smartphones in schools. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion
BBC News
01-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Oxford Spires Academy ditches smartphones for 'brick' phones
A secondary school has banned smartphones for years seven to 11 and will only allow basic "brick" phones from Spires Academy's head teacher said the move would create a "calmer, more focused environment".Several schools in the south of England are bringing in similar measures for younger pupils to prevent them from accessing the internet, apps or Department for Education said about 97% of schools were restricting phone use in some way, with many heads now exercising their right to implement complete bans. From September, smartphones at Oxford Spires Academy will become prohibited items that must not be brought into school. If found, they will be confiscated and a parent or carer will be required to collect teacher Louise Cowley said she had taken on board feedback from students, parents and staff about how addictive mobiles were. "We recognise that student attention spans are becoming shorter, they are becoming disrupted by the need to want to check their phones and that's impacting lessons and also how they're communicating and socialising with each other in school, as well as out of school," she said. "So just bringing it in for Year 7 didn't feel right, it felt it needed to be a whole school recognition for this piece of technology not being conducive to positive learning habits" she those who responded to a parent survey, 70% said they were concerned about phone use with some reporting that children were using them for more than five hours a day. A total of 64% said they would support a smartphone restriction before Year 10 and 68% said they would buy a "brick" phone if peers did the some parents said they were concerned about their child travelling to and from school without a smartphone, Mrs Cowley said students would be supported with the transition and would be allowed to keep a basic phone in their bag as long as they were switched off and kept out of sight. Max, 13, said too many pupils were using their phones in school. "I've seen people play games and communicate on social media during classes and I think it's affecting their learning," he said. Beatrix, 13, admitted feeling addicted to her phone and said it would take time to get used to the ban. She added: "It will be quite unnerving to know my phone's not on me and it's at home."Sixth formers will only be allowed to use a smartphone in their common room. Talluah, 17, thinks the new policy will have a positive said: "I think the policy is going to be really good regarding safeguarding for the younger year groups and regarding their mental health and how secure and comfortable they feel in school." Other secondary schools introducing a smartphone ban for Year 7 pupils in September include: Wheatley Park and Chipping Norton schools in Oxfordshire; Swanmore College and Petersfield School in Hampshire; St Peter's Catholic School in Dorset and Bohunt School in Berkshire. Eton College brought in basic phones for new pupils joining the school last week, a group of school leaders launched a new map to show which schools had gone completely smartphone free. Some schools, including Aureas School in Didcot, have taken a different approach and have chosen to lock phones away in magnetic pouches during the day. The Hurst School in Tadley, north Hampshire, was one of the first to introduce Yondr pouches in June 2021."Certainly the behaviour of our students is much improved... also even 18 months later our GCSE results went up by 2% against a backdrop of nationals coming down, and now four years later our progress has got 50% better and in fact we're still striving for more," said head teacher Jayne McLaren supports a move towards more basic phones, adding: "I feel young people need us to put those boundaries and parameters in... before they're overwhelmed with social media... you wouldn't hand your car keys over to a young person right now but that doesn't mean we don't want them to drive in the future." 'Bold steps' Nearly 150,000 parents have signed a Parent Pact to hold off giving their child a smartphone until at least 14 and social media until grassroots movement known as Smartphone Free Childhood took off in February co-founder and director, Daisy Greenwell, said: "It's hugely encouraging to see more secondary schools taking bold steps to go smartphone-free. "These devices – designed to be addictive – are having a real impact on young people's mental health, learning and relationships. Removing them from the school day is a crucial first step."Ms Greenwell acknowledged schools could not do it alone, instead she said a cultural change was needed to normalise delaying giving smartphones to children.A recent study found that banning phones in schools was not linked to pupils getting higher grades or having better mental classroom behaviour, exercise, and how long was spent on phones overall were also found to be no different for pupils at schools with phone bans and those without, the researchers University of Birmingham academics did find that spending longer on smartphones and social media in general was linked with worse results across all those report's author, Dr Victoria Goodyear, concluded that school phone bans "in isolation are not enough to tackle the negative impacts".A bill suggesting banning smartphones in schools and addictive algorithms aimed at young teenagers will be debated in parliament this July following widespread concerns.A spokesperson from the Department for Education said: "Mobile phones are a distraction from learning and have no place in our classrooms, which is why our clear guidance sets out that school leaders should be restricting their use."Schools already have the power to ban phones, and we support head teachers to take the necessary steps to prevent disruption." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
