Stopping phone usage in schools: A Sussex parent's take on the Government guidance issued today

Revealed by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan – also the MP for Chichester – this morning, it’s likely the advice is largely aimed at secondary schools.

But as a mum of two primary school pupils, one of whom will be starting secondary school in a little over 18 months, it’s something I’ve been reading about and watching with interest.

It’s not a revelation that mobile phones present a constant challenge for classroom teachers and schools in a wider context (as the wife of a year-six teacher I know too well some of the problems they cause). For this very reason, many schools in our area have had bans on mobile phones in varying degrees for years already.

However, as this is the first time a more formal guidance has been issued ‘from on high’, it’s likely many more schools will now follow suit.

For me, that can only be a good thing. I’m not quite at the stage where my children take a phone to school, but I know my day is coming and it’s something I already worry about.

We’ve probably all sat on a train, in the cinema, and other public places where people using mobile phones has been at best an unwelcome background noise or worse an irritating distraction.

Put them into an education environment, where concentration and focus are probably the primary requirements for pupils, and the potential for disruption is huge.

Pupils are no doubt constantly disrupted by phones ringing and pinging all through lessons because the owners forgot to put them on silent. And then there’s the fact that mobile phones are addictive, and anyone who owns one has to fight the urge to pick it up and check apps, messages, and more throughout the day.

With a blanket ban in place, it takes that immense pressure off them to be part of the digital world 24/7. Having a child who already has one eye on having a phone, that thought is very comforting to me.

The problem with this guidance is that schools already had the power to do this. And while it’s grabbing the headlines and generally garnering support, is it really doing anything revelatory, other than just formalising something that’s already pretty commonplace?

For me, maybe it doesn’t go far enough. My biggest fears about my children owning a mobile phone are connected to them using them at home. It’s there where the real issues occur because they have more time to use them. The fact children are constantly contactable by social media means they can never really switch off. And the problems with toxic messages and bullying on these platforms are well-documented.

If the Government can do something to mitigate the digital barrage faced by children in their own homes, then that’s definitely something newsworthy to me.