Mobile Phones in Schools

Monica Harding Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Josh MacAlister]

I agree with my hon. Friend’s statement and thank the leaders at Stoke Park secondary school for being ahead of the curve and taking action on the use of smartphones in schools. This measure is part of our action to ensure that those below 16 are unable to access social media, so that they get their childhoods back. My hon. Friend will know that I have supported that from a number of different positions in Government, as well as with a private Member’s Bill that set out exactly that, along with some of the changes that we have now brought in for schools.

[Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD)]

I have had over 500 emails from constituents calling for a smartphone-free childhood, so I welcome today’s announcement. However, while restricting access to smartphones, schools are increasingly issuing laptops and tablets that pupils can take home and use beyond the school day. As some independent schools are re-examining the role of screens in education, technology use is expanding across the state school sector. Will the Minister explain how the Government will ensure that one form of screen dependency is not simply being replaced by another? What consideration has been given to the amount of time that children spend using school-issued devices both in and outside the classroom?

[Josh MacAlister]

The hon. Member has hit the nail on the head: that is the issue that schools need to navigate at the moment, and we need to help them. The edtech certification, on which we are starting the consultation, is designed to tackle exactly that issue and help school leaders navigate some of those choices, as are the trials and evaluations that we will put in place on AI chatbots. That is linked to the warnings from PISA about school systems elsewhere in the world, where technology has been left to let rip in the education system and has displaced books, reading, writing and some of the more tactile things that we know children need in school to have the right cognitive development.