Watch my question to the PM about banning smartphones in schools

Today, I asked the Prime Minister if he would back a smartphone ban in schools.

Given the Government’s desire to improve educational outcomes and the wellbeing of our children, you’d think it’d be a no brainer.

But, to my deep disappointment, he refused. Instead, he argued that most schools already ban smartphones. That is not correct.

While more than 90% of schools have some form of controls in place, research from the Policy Exchange found that only 11% of them are effective.

This morning, I chaired a roundtable about smartphones in schools, attended by a cross-party group of MPs, headteachers, including from KCC, and educational experts.

We heard from headteachers who had implemented some form of smartphone restrictions, and their stories, though different, had the same underlying message: when smartphones are banned from schools, behaviour improves, safeguarding issues go down, and children are happier.

The Government guidance on smartphones is scarily outdated. Every day, children are exposed to extreme content, like pornography and graphic violence.

Against this backdrop, it is baffling why the Government doesn’t move faster to ban smartphones from schools.