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Legal ban on smartphones, schools in England

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Wyllow3 Mon 20-Apr-26 19:21:54

The government has said it will introduce a legal ban on smartphones in schools in England.

Education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith told the House of Lords on Monday that the government would table an amendment to its landmark Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill "creating a clear legal requirement for schools" on the matter.

The Department for Education (DfE) said the move would give "legal force to what schools are already doing in practice".

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson had written to schools in January encouraging them to follow new guidance that schools be phone-free for the entire day.

Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott said the amendment was "fantastic news for headteachers, parents and pupils across the country".

general across the board support from other parties.

I'm very glad, but think it will be hard to enforce.

There will be reports from other sources of course, here's the BBC where the quote was from

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y7vd6gpq1o

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Wyllow3 Mon 20-Apr-26 19:56:03

bump.
It wont be popular with teenagers but it's making school life more impossible to manage.

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avitorl Mon 20-Apr-26 20:04:37

Brilliant news

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valdali Mon 20-Apr-26 20:19:56

It's good news. School prepares children for life, and being on your mobile all the time at university lectures, or at work, is not going to go down well. Best they learn to concentrate on something other than their phone while they're in school.

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Septimia Mon 20-Apr-26 21:30:25

They don't need their phones in school and are better off concentrating on their work and using their brains.

I can see, though, that having a phone (not necessarily a smartphone) when travelling to and from school and especially if there's no-one at home when they get there is useful for safety in this day and age. Things were different when we were young...

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rosie1959 Mon 20-Apr-26 21:39:33

Certain pupils should still be allowed their smart phones Type 1 diabetics for instance their phones monitor their blood levels.

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Norah Mon 20-Apr-26 21:51:33

Good news.

Few children need phones (apart from health reasons).

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MayBee70 Mon 20-Apr-26 21:58:25

My granddaughter has just started walking to school on her own and she has a phone so she can contact her parents and they can contact her. But it doesn’t have any social media stuff on it unlike her friends phones.

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Jaxjacky Mon 20-Apr-26 21:59:25

How do people without a smartphone manage rosie1959?

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petra Mon 20-Apr-26 22:07:11

Im very glad but I think it will be hard to enforce
It works very well in my granddaughters school.
They have no idea when there is going to be a spot check.
It could be in the middle of a lesson when they will all be told to assemble in the hall.
No coats and no bags.
The girls wear trousers in her school so many places to hide.
If someone is found with a phone it is confiscated for 3 days.

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