Exclusive:School phone use consultation launches as McAllan claims ban will 'cut misogynistic violence'
The Scottish government is to open its consultation on the use of mobile phones in schools as Mairi McAllen said she believes a ban is vital
The Scottish Government will today open its consultation into a ban on mobile phones in schools, The Scotsman can reveal.
It comes as education secretary Mairi McAllan said cutting phone use will help tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG).
Some local authorities, including Edinburgh City Council, have already introduced restrictions but campaigners have called for a complete Scotland-wide ban on mobile phones on school campuses.
Ms McAllan announced in June that the law would be changed to create phone-free learning environments in a bid to tackle behavioural issues.
The consultation will consider how parents, pupils and teachers believe this is best achieved.
Some groups have called for a campus-wide ban while others suggest classroom-only restrictions.
Ministers will also have to look at how to ensure schools where pupils use their phones for classwork have enough devices to plug the shortfall created by a ban.
However, Ms McAllan has been clear she supports a ban in schools and said, as well as improving classroom behaviour, stopping phone use will help cut violence against women and girls (VAWG).
Ms McAllan said she was “very, very exercised” about the issue of VAWG.
She said the curriculum content in schools is an important part of tackling VAWG but is only “one aspect of that”.
READ MORE: A barely audible 'guilty' marks the pinnacle of the Peter Murrell drama that has dogged the SNP
First Minister John Swinney said last week that his government would look at eradicating men’s violence against women.
The cabinet secretary added that she has serious concerns about the impact of mobile phone use on young people.
Ms McAllan said: “One of the very decisive actions that I've taken since coming into post is the work on mobile phones in classrooms, because I believe that there has been a significant intensification of the use of smartphones by increasingly young children.
“I think it's having a considerably negative effect on them.
“So, banning mobile phones in the classroom environment is something I'm pursuing just now.”
She said the ban would help with behaviour and also improve “low-level disruption in the classroom”.
“I think it's about giving young people a break from the relentless, misogynistic, extreme, violent content that they're increasingly being led towards,” she added.
It is understood the government will begin the formal process on Tuesday by lodging a Government Initiated Question (GIQ) at 9.30am to inform the parliament of its intentions.
Ms McAllan’s position represents a significant shift in the previous government stance under her predecessor Jenny Gilruth.
Despite political and public pressure, the SNP has repeatedly said technology use on campus was a decision for individual headteachers.
The government takes a devolved approach to schools, claiming heads are best placed to serve their pupils’ needs.
However, every other Scottish political party set out in their pre-election manifestos that they would institute a ban on mobile phones in classrooms.
The SNP then made a manifesto commitment to launch a consultation within the first 100 days of government.
Last month, the cabinet secretary urged schools not to wait for the new legislation but to act immediately to ban phones.
As a “signal of intent” ahead of the new law, she said “schools should move to introduce restrictions while we prepare legislation”.
New guidance for schools was released at the end of June and the government is calling for a public health approach to tackling the issues caused by tech and social media use by young people.
Adding that children are “growing up in an online world which was unimaginable 20 years ago when I was at school”, she said last month the “rapid evolution of technology” meant ministers have to adapt their thinking on such issues.
The plans have received cross-party backing from MSPs.
Get our revamped Steamie newsletter
The Education Secretary has also made clear her support for the UK Government’s recent consultation on banning social media for under-16s.
A spokesman for the campaign group Smartphone Free Childhood said: “Mairi McAllan made an excellent statement in June which indicated that she understands the harms children are facing on smartphones and social media.
“Children are routinely seeing nude images, being pressured into sending them, being exposed to pornography, violence and radical content online and are at serious risk of being manipulated by AI. This should be taken seriously as a safeguarding and public health emergency.
“Although there is growing public awareness of the dangers for children online, the vast majority of headteachers in Scotland have so far failed to take firm action to protect children. The lack of firm government action has created a postcode lottery. That’s why we hope that this consultation will give the government a mandate to legislate for smartphone-free schools across Scotland.
“Most of the online harm occurs outside of school. That’s why we want to see schools take a holistic approach and working together with parents to help them make safer choices when it comes to smartphones and social media.
“Children should be able to contact friends and family before and after school, and this is one of the main reasons parents give children a mobile phone. A basic mobile phone with calls and texts only keeps children safe without social media, a camera, and access to strangers and group chats. So we need schools to allow children to arrive with basic mobile phones but not with internet-connected smartphones.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.