Mobile Phone Ban Plan To Improve Discipline In England’s Schools

Schools in England’s are to consider mobile phone bans and other measures are to be considered to help improve discipline.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said he wants to make the school day mobile-free, describing the devices as distracting and damaging.

A consultation will ask the views of teachers and parents on how to promote good behaviour.

The six-week call for evidence is part of a government review of behaviour, discipline, suspensions and permanent exclusions in England’s schools.

This includes finding what has been effective in tackling low-level disruptive behaviour and whether discipline has been affected by the pandemic.

Williamson has been accused by some Heads of being obsessed with phones in school.

However, mobile phones in school have been linked to cyberbullying and problems from social media and online videos though some schools have policies on how they can be used and some have  already put bans in place.

There have also been concerns about the sharing of internet inappropriate adult content through mobile phones, highlighted after the Everyone’s Invited website revealed a culture of sexual harassment among some school students.

The creation of a £10m “behaviour hub” programme has previously been announced by the Department for Education, with 22 schools and two academy chains with strong records on behaviour being asked to support schools struggling with poor discipline.

Williamson said no parent wants to send their child to a school where poor behaviour is rife.

He added that mobile phones are not just distracting, but when misused or overused, they can have a damaging effect on a pupil’s mental health and well-being, which he wants to put an end to, making the school day mobile-free.