Parents: 'Allow brick phones in school or campus ban will fail'
Parent campaign groups say a distinction must be made between different types of phones
Anti-smartphone campaigners have warned schools must allow ‘brick phones’ as a compromise or a ban will fail.
Ministers have launched a consultation on banning smart phones in schools in a bid to tackle unruly behaviour, bullying and low-level disruption.
However, the group Smartphone Free Childhood has expressed frustration the government questionnaire does not distinguish types of phones.
They have lobbied cabinet secretary Mairi McAllan to allow basic phones - known as ‘dumb’ or ‘brick’ phones - to let parents stay in touch with children.
The group promotes basic phones as a safe alternative to smart phones. They allow calling and texting only with no web browsing or social media. They say they gives children aged 11-14, who may be travelling to school alone, some independence without the pressure of a smart phone.
Spokesman Dr Sam Rice said: “It’s the same across governments in the UK - they talk about mobile phone as if they’re all the same and they don’t make any distinction about smartphones and basic mobile phones, which is a huge mistake.
“We had hoped to see a distinction made in this consultation.”
Dr Rice referenced the issue with pupils coming to school with sleep deprivation and suffering anxiety and depression.
He said the only way to tackle these issues are to support schools to help parents make better choices.
“Of course parents are going to push back if schools ban all mobile phones from the campus unless we say you're allowed to bring a basic phone so that you can stay in touch for safety before and after school.
“So that's ultimately what we need to happen.
“And we've explained this to the government, and they just ignored it, so that's frustrating.”
The consultation will inform the development of legislation to restrict phone use in schools.
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Dr Rice hopes parents will feed back to the government that allowing some form of mobile phone is a workable solution.
“Kids are being exposed to harm on smartphones at home, after school or on the way to and from school, it’s not really just happening in classrooms or in school,” he added.
“The policies are all framed around it being a distraction in class but that’s not going to fix it.
“The only way is for schools to help parents make better choices.”
One of the obstacles to a smartphone ban in classrooms is that some schools require pupils to use their own devices for coursework.
The consultation allows for this with an exception that “phones used for learning” would be allowed on campus.
Dr Rice said: “This could potentially be a problem because if pupils are using them for learning then they would be allowed to bring them in and that would create a serious limitation on any ban.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said all phones can cause a distraction in classrooms and so the consultation does not make a distinction.
He said: “There is clear evidence that the inappropriate use of mobile phones in schools causes disruption to learning as a result of distraction.
“Those distractions can arise whether or not the phone is a smartphone, and so the consultation does not make that distinction.
He added that Ms McAllan plans to meet with Smartphone Free Childhood to discuss their views shortly.
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