Schools: Mobile Phones

Lord Mitchell Excerpts

Thursday 28th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mitchell (Lab)]

My Lords, it was joy to listen to the excellent maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Cass, and we look forward to her future contributions.

In thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, for securing this debate, I will not go through the usual pleasantries. Simply put, I cannot think of anyone else in this country who has done more to influence policy and legislation to protect children from the ravages of the internet than the noble Baroness. We all owe her a great debt of thanks. She never gives up.

I first bought a mobile phone in 1985—I guess a few years before the noble Baroness, Lady Owen, first bought hers. In those days, you had to have the strength of Hercules to lift it to your ear. That was almost 40 years ago, which means that for nearly half of my life I have possessed a mobile phone. Like many of us, it is an essential part of my being, and I do not know how I could live without it.

Today, we have the terminology wrong, because the word “phone” is a misnomer. This debate has the word “phone” in its title, but when was the last time you saw a child using a mobile as a phone? They do not talk; they text, they use FaceTime and they use social media. The mobile today is a very powerful communications tool that just happens to have a phone and camera attached. It is a window to the world that provides access to most of human knowledge and activity—for better and for worse.

This story is nowhere near over. Shortly, new iPhones will have powerful AI built into them—Apple Intelligence—and Google will follow just behind. Where is that going? I have no idea. I sense that much of it will not be good. Today, Meta and Apple sell virtual-reality goggles. They are expensive and cumbersome, but they point to the direction of travel. Devices that look like normal reading glasses, but with the same capability as mobile phones, are just around the corner. All these developments will pose challenges to the school environment. How will they be detected and controlled?

The noble Baroness is the joint author of an outstanding report produced by the LSE. It states that more evidence is needed on whether to have mobile phones in schools. My instinct is that we should not. I believe that children or teenagers should not be permitted to use their devices on school premises. Why? First, the smart devices have value; they cost several hundred pounds each. London is the world centre of iPhone theft, so it is all too tempting and dangerous.

Secondly, there is device envy. Most children can spot an up-to-date phone immediately. Is it healthy to have children putting pressure on parents for the latest model?

Thirdly, there is content. Can this be controlled by schools and parents? In theory yes, but we all know that it is easy to circumvent. Do we really want children looking at unsuitable content at school?

Many schools are subjected to intense pressure to allow mobiles to be used on their premises. It is often hard for a school to resist. Making it mandatory would resolve the problem.