‘The missing ‘B’ – the case for a national smartphone ban in schools

Beds, Bills, Build, Boats, Bombs

When commentators talk about the Labour government’s priorities, they often focus on the ‘Five Bs’ – shorthand for Labour’s mission to rebuild Britain’s foundations, from infrastructure and industry to public services and opportunity.

To deliver on any of these, Labour urgently needs to add an extra ‘B’ – Brains. Britain’s long-term growth will be determined by the focus, learning and creativity of our next generation and one simple measure gives these precious commodities an instant boost – genuinely removing smartphones from schools. 

That’s the goal of Generation Focus – a broad coalition of parents, educators and campaigners working with school leaders to champion a statutory national ban on smartphones in schools. Backed by hundreds of headteachers and multi-academy trust CEOs, the campaign highlights a clear truth – the current smartphone guidance is failing our children, and schools need help to make classrooms calm, safe and focused once more.

READ MORE: ‘School readiness is rising – but so is the gap between poorer kids and their peers’

Teachers across Britain tell the same story: the single biggest barrier to calm and focused classrooms is no longer just funding or staffing – it’s the smartphone. 

Smartphones have come to dominate school life. They fragment attention, fuel anxiety, and expose young people to harmful content. Teachers spend hours policing devices and online disputes; parents feel powerless; and pupils themselves admit they struggle to focus.

As one headteacher told us: “Every lesson is a battle for attention – and we’re losing.” 

While 97% secondary schools say they “ban” phones, 89% rely on the least restrictive “no see, no hear” option in the guidance. This requires children to keep their smartphones off and away in bags or blazers. Everyone knows it does not work. Pupils conceal phones behind books, disappear to toilets to check social media, send messages under the desk. It’s little wonder the few schools with a genuine on-site ban report transformational change – better educational outcomes, calmer behaviour, teachers free to teach again.

The Department for Education’s own National Behaviour Survey launched last month revealed only 9% of pupils and 13% of secondary leaders say their school smartphone rules are followed “all of the time”. This confirms what every teacher already knows – the current approach is simply not working.

At Prime Minister’s Questions on 19 November, Keir Starmer acknowledged that the current guidance must be kept under review and that what matters is whether the steps taken to deal with smartphones are effective. The Education Select Committee stated the same last year, recommending that if non statutory guidance is shown to be ineffective, the government should ‘move to a statutory ban as soon as possible’. 

This test has now been met and it is time for decisive national leadership to ensure every school implements the policy that is proven to be effective – a complete on-site ban of smartphones in all school settings, with simple call and text (brick) phones permitted for travel where needed. As well as protecting the school day, this policy supports the majority of parents who feel under pressure to give their child a smartphone at a younger age than they would prefer, reversing the current trend of younger and younger children owning smartphones.

Why aren’t more schools already implementing complete on-site bans? 

Shouldering this alone on an individual school-by-school basis is exhausting and time-consuming for already over-stretched headteachers. Without a national directive, parents view phone restrictions as a ‘personal’ choice made by the headteacher, rather than a safeguarding necessity. 

The overwhelming majority of parents are silently supportive but heads often end up in conflict with a vocal minority of parents who are unwilling to forgo the convenience or perceived benefits of their children taking a smartphone to school. 

As evidence continues to mount, a recent study from the University of West England found parents often underestimate the harm smartphones are doing to their children and therefore may not understand the need for tighter restrictions. Dealing with parents who object  – and delivering the education required to quell dissent – is a colossal time burden for school leaders. 

A national safeguarding issue that hits vulnerable children hardest

In a recent case that made national headlines, 17-year-old Flossie McShea launched legal action after being shown violent and pornographic videos on a classmate’s phone in a school with a “not seen or heard” policy. She’s not alone. Harmful content is routinely shared in classrooms and on school buses because teachers cannot safeguard children everywhere school has a duty of care so long as smartphones are allowed on site.

Removing smartphones from the school day also gives children a break from addictive-by-design technology. Snapchat, for example, reaches 90% of 13-24 year olds and OFCOM data shows 13-14 year old Snapchat users spend more than 2 hours a day on the app. That’s 14 hours a week before they’ve even opened TikTok, YouTube or WhatsApp.

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Vulnerable children benefit the most from protection during the school day. The UWE research also found that pupils already struggling academically are most likely to experience smartphone-related harm – from self-harm and eating disorder content to toxic group chats. Smartphones widen the attainment gap.

Parents and teachers want national action

Public support for much tighter restrictions could not be clearer. A national survey by Parentkind found: 

• 84% of parents who have not given their children smartphones support a full school-day ban.
• 83% believe smartphones are harmful to young people.
• 89% are worried about online bullying.

Teachers agree. A recent TeacherTapp survey shows:

• 70% of primary teachers would prefer that smartphones were banned altogether
• 82% of secondary teachers would prefer an outright ban on bringing smartphones to school

This is a popular, common sense policy with big public momentum.

What Labour can do to act

Labour’s mission for growth depends on productivity and productivity begins with focus. Protecting children’s brains is foundational to learning, wellbeing and our country’s long term opportunity. Young people, teachers, heads and parents are all asking for urgent help from a Labour government and there are clear routes forward:

• Listen to pioneering headteachers who have gone genuinely smartphone-free to understand the most cost-effective, pragmatic ways to implement effective bans (Generation Focus has requested meetings with the Secretary of State and her advisors)
• Move from voluntary guidance to a clear, statutory national standard

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This would empower headteachers, take conflict out of the school gates and give protective cover to teachers doing their jobs. 

And, crucially, it would give our children the freedom they need to focus on learning, socialising, and developing the real world skills they need to become a generation of healthy, productive adults.  

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