Mobile phones will be banned in schools in England under guidance issued to head teachers in an attempt to minimise disruption and improve behaviour in classrooms.
The nationwide rules will give backing to teachers in prohibiting the use of mobile phones throughout the school day, including at break times.
There is overwhelming mounting evidence of the harm that phones cause relating to mental health, bullying and violence, in addition to impacting academic achievement through class disruption.
Why is this important?
While we all recognise the convenience of smart phones, on balance they causes more harm than good during the school day.
School should be a 6 hour respite, free from distraction, bullying, hate and violence
The direction of travel globally and across the UK is for increased restriction of phones in schools.
The Scottish Government, which prides itself on youth mental and physical wellbeing, should be at the vanguard of this safeguarding movement.
We are failing our duty of care as parents by not doing all we can to have this harm removed from the school day in face of the mounting evidence.
