NEWS: Ormiston Academies Ban Phones Nationwide

As reported by The Guardian, Ormiston Academies Trust is phasing out smartphones across its 44 schools, citing their harmful effects on student mental health and focus

The Ormiston academies trust, which runs 44 state schools including 32 secondaries, has begun phasing out access to phones at all its schools across the country, with eight secondary schools adopting new policies this term and the rest to follow, after liaising with parents.

The move comes as school leaders and policymakers across the world are considering tougher restrictions on how children use and interact with smartphones, including a recent French government report recommending a bar on internet-enabled phones for children under 13, and only allowing access to social media after the age of 16.

Tom Rees, Ormiston’s chief executive, said the status quo in most schools – allowing pupils to keep phones during the school day – was an inadequate response to the disruption phones caused to pupil learning and wellbeing.

He said: “We are seeing huge and real concerns around mental health, post-pandemic. These are not just self-reported, we’re also seeing real concerns about self-harm, attempted suicide, A&E admissions – these are facts from across the world involving young people and adolescents.

“We’re seeing a clear correlation between that and mobile phone and social media use, in particular. Not all mobile phone use is equal and the relationship between that and adolescent mental health, we think, is overwhelming.

“There is a responsibility for society to respond, and a responsibility for schools to make it harder for children to access inappropriate content through the school day and restrict the draw of social media.”

Earlier this year the Department for Education (DfE) updated its advice on mobile phones, giving school leaders in England greater options to ban or restrict them. But as the advice was non-statutory, there has been no reason for schools to change policies.

However, research by Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, has found that children’s phone ownership rose steeply from age eight until the age of 12, when ownership swelled to more than 90%, setting off demands to further restrict phone use in schools.