UK School Leaders Decry Plan To Ban Phones From Classrooms

School and college leaders in the United Kingdom have condemned the government’s plan to ban mobile phones from classrooms as outdated and out of touch, arguing that schools should be allowed to decide on appropriate rules.

Responding to a Department for Education (DfE) consultation on student behaviour, the Association of School and College Leaders said education leaders already had student mobile phone use under control and warned that some students, such as those caring for a relative, may be disadvantaged by a strict approach.

The director of policy at ASCL, Julie McCulloch, said that school and college leaders are slightly mystified about the education secretary’s fixation with banning mobile phones in classrooms because they have been dealing with the practicalities of this issue for many years now.

She added: “Our view remains that schools and colleges already have strong tried-and-tested policies and they are best placed to make their own decisions.”

McCulloch said schools typically asked students to keep their phones in their bags during the academic day, while some had policies allowing pupils to use their phones to help with learning and sourcing information adding that having access to phones also enabled secondary schools to teach about responsible phone use and online harms.

She added that for some learners, such as children in the care system, mobile phones could be an “essential safety measure”, while young carers might need them to “provide essential support to parents”.

In its consultation response, ASCL also reported that some of the emergency measures deployed during the pandemic had helped with antisocial behaviour, with some schools and colleges planning to keep them.

These included staggering the end of the school day, keeping pupils in peer group bubbles, having more time outdoors and appointing older pupils as mentors to support younger ones.

The response also endorsed the use of quiet spaces within schools and colleges for pupils exhibiting difficult behaviour, but criticised the DfE’s use of the term “removal room” as “unhelpful and stigmatising” and warned that their use could be particularly inappropriate for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).