Banning smartphones from schools: The ‘common sense solution’ that doesn’t quite add up

Sometimes a piece of legislation arrives, often championed as a common sense solution, that has the potential to cause as many problems than it solves.

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to the government’s plans to ban smartphones across schools in England.

A sensible solution to the onset of social media which rots children’s brains and an end to the distraction of the constantly buzzing and always distracting mobile in the classroom - what’s not to like?

Well, plenty actually.

But before I get into that, let’s take a quick look at what Labour are planning to do.

The headline is that Kier Starmer’s government will introduce a legal ban on smartphones in schools. It will mean pupils will be prevented from keeping phones in their pockets or bags during the school day.

New legislation will arrive via an amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, with government ministers saying the changes will simply provide legal force to what school’s are already doing.

The legal bit will mean schools must follow the new rules, rather than them being simply advisory. The ban will not apply to travel to and from school - instead, it is likely pupils will have to hand their phones in at the start of the day and collect them again at the end.

As with so many of the early stage plans that are floated in Parliament, the detail is suitably vague and we will have to wait to see how the ban will work in practice or whether exemptions will be planned into it.

Based purely on the headline news, there are certainly concerns that need raising around this idea.

First off, mobile phones are key for connecting with people, including children and their parents or guardians. For some pupils, whether because they suffer from anxiety or perhaps if there are underlying issues at home, this communication is vitally important.

Other pupils might use mobile phones as a tool to keep track of what they need to do. A lot of people use apps to manage their medication or to send alerts if, for example, their blood sugar levels are too low.

Meanwhile, educational apps - such as Kahoot - can be a great way to learn, with pupils likely to find them far more engaging than an old-style blackboard or a teacher lecturing them from the front of the classroom.

Ultimately, whether people like it or not, mobile phones - and even the dreaded social media - are the future. We shouldn’t be looking to re-create the 1980s.

At times, the attitude of some legislators and so-called experts to any modern-day challenge seems to be to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Of course there are issues with mobile phones. Nobody is denying it, but how and where are youngsters going to learn how to use them safely and properly if not at school?

If one thing is certain, it’s that on the way home, when they are out with friends at the weekends or evenings, or in their bedrooms at night, children are going to be accessing social media and scrolling through their phones. We need to teach them to control this behaviour - where better than in school?

How are children going to learn how to be safe if they don't get taught about the pros and cons of smartphone use - and I don’t mean by watching a dusty old video or flicking through a text book.

When I was younger, I wasn't taught about things like taxes, council tax bills, rent, grocery shopping and so on. When I reached the adult world, many of these things were a mystery. We can’t have a situation where this is the case for safe mobile phone use due to the danger this could pose.

That’s not to suggest that there should be a free-for-all scenario, where every pupil has access to their smartphone throughout the school day, and in every class.

It makes perfect sense that a few boundaries should be put in place. If you have your phone with you, you can’t be texting your friends in class or reading social media posts during a lesson.

But banning them outright is a step in the wrong direction and ignores the benefits of modern technology.

Turning round and saying to a child, ‘you can’t have that’ is the best way of making sure that they want nothing more. Telling kids they can’t do something is like waving a red flag to a bull.

Most kids these days have their phones glued to their hand already. Stop them having them in school, and they’ll either find ways to get their hands on them or they’ll double their efforts to use them outside of school, fuelled by that old favourite, ‘it’s not fair’.

Rather than banning phones outright, there is something to be said for teaching children how to come off their mobiles.

Instead, alongside education on the dangers of phone use, schools could introduce a quiet hour, where they encourage children to explore other things, whether that be books, playing sports, cooking, or all those other activities that don’t involve having a smartphone.

Children need to be able to learn to both embrace new technology and learn those skills and practices which encourage mindfulness, bring enjoyment without a screen, and widen their horizons.

But the sledgehammer of a ban is unlikely to crack the nut of distracted children or to push them towards potentially healthier activities. It's not going to reduce distraction, it's just going to make kids focus more on the fact they want the phone and to figure out ways to get it.

The current plan strikes me as being a good old-fashioned vote winner, a sop to a general public which is fed up with, and scared - often rightly - about the brain-rotting march of social media.

But the problem with legislating based on fear is that you end up with something very one-dimensional and lacking nuance.

Children deserve better than that.