Schools: Mobile Phones

Lord Bishop of Oxford Excerpts

Thursday 28th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Oxford]

My Lords, it is an honour to take part in this debate. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, on her excellent introduction. I too look forward to the maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Cass.

The diocese of Oxford, where I serve, has 285 church schools. We share in the education of over 60,000 children through these schools and the network of multi-academy trusts. There is a broad consensus on the importance of this issue and in favour of smartphone-free schools. However, there is not yet a final consensus on the next steps to be taken to bring this about. The consensus arises from our commitment to follow the Christian values of wisdom, respect, community and hope in all our schools.

Nine days ago, I visited the Chiltern Hills Academy secondary school in Buckinghamshire to meet some sixth-formers and the principal. The school had just introduced and enforced a rigorous ban on smartphones below sixth-form level, which the sixth-formers seemed quite happy about. Outside the sixth-form study centre, the sixth-formers use lockable pouches, such as those referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Knight. This genuinely seemed to be working well for the students and brought them relief. I asked the principal about the effects of the policy in the first term. His first answer surprised me: there were fewer fights; in fact, there were no fights. I asked why that should be. He said it was because they could not be filmed and put online. The ban has translated into better behaviour overall, less bullying and higher levels of concentration, which are in turn translating into more learning, better relationships, healthier communities and higher attainment. These outcomes are all supported by the extensive research summarised in the briefings we have received, including the report Disconnect from Policy Exchange. The case for smartphone-free schools seems very strong.

A few weeks ago, I had another piece of evidence. I visited a primary school in Oxford, where I had a sobering conversation with the excellent head teacher. It concerned the effects of the unchecked use of smartphones and social media on those who are now in their 20s and the parents of the children in her school. The head described the challenges of communicating with this TikTok generation of parents. The school now has to prepare a short, TikTok-style video of one or two minutes on such simple subjects as how to prepare a healthy lunchbox because the concentration levels among the parents have become so low and their ways of receiving information so restricted. The head described as well how much of her staff’s time was taken up with responding to parent group WhatsApp messages for similar reasons.

All the evidence presented by Jonathan Haidt and others suggests that smartphones need to be regulated through a combination of legislation, industry good design, and intermediate institutions such as workplaces, schools, families and individuals. Addictive technology needs communities of resistance to be formed by schools and parents. Very senior colleagues agree on the need for these restrictions but differ somewhat on the means. I would welcome further government leadership and legislation which set an enforced benchmark for schools and brought the best research to bear, but which left the means of implementation in the hands of schools and the educators themselves. The mental health and attention span of our children and the whole of our society are at stake.