Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The head of the UK’s largest education union has urged ministers to impose a statutory ban on mobile phones in schools, as concerns mount over the impact of devices on children’s mental health.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said on Thursday that legally prohibiting smartphones would alleviate pressures on school leaders, teachers and parents.
The Labour government has ruled out calls to mandate phone-free schools in law, arguing it is for headteachers to decide what is best for their pupils.
But there is a growing call from parents and policymakers to impose stricter rules against a backdrop of fears over giving children unsupervised access to the internet and messaging.
Kebede told the PA news agency: “My personal view is I would support a statutory ban on mobile phones in schools. I think it would alleviate pressure from school leaders, teachers, but also parents.”
He added: “The average 12-year-old has access to the most hardcore pornography on their mobile phone and that is incredibly damaging to the wellbeing of young boys and their perceptions of women, girls, sex and relationships.”
Ministers should “look towards Australia”, where the government had announced a ban on social media sites for under 16-year-olds, he said.
A study by England’s Children’s Commissioner found as many as 90 per cent of secondary schools, and 99.8 per cent of primary schools, already have policies designed to curb the use of phones throughout the day.
The measures range from restricting the use of phones in class to a total ban on handsets on school premises, according to the survey of more than 15,000 schools.
The study, published on Thursday, found a quarter of children aged between 9 and 16 spent more than four hours a day on electronic devices outside of school.
Dame Rachel de Souza, children’s commissioner for England, said headteachers should have a choice of policy instead of a “direction imposed nationally by the government”.
“Parents and carers need support to become more confident managing their children’s online activities,” she said, by putting in age-appropriate boundaries “and above all, to talk and keep talking at home about what they see and how to respond”.
Laura Trott, shadow education secretary, has called for a legally mandated ban to be rolled out across schools as a “safeguarding measure”.
The government said: “Our clear guidance sets out that school leaders should be restricting their use.”
“Phones have no place in our classrooms,” it added.
