Leave school phone bans to head teachers, children's commissioner says

Leave school phone bans to head teachers, children's commissioner says 4 hours ago Share Save Hazel Shearing • @hazelshearing Education correspondent Share Save Getty Images Banning phones in schools should be a decision for head teachers and not "imposed nationally by the government", England's children's commissioner has said. Nine in ten secondary schools restrict the use of smartphones, according to a survey of 19,000 schools and colleges commissioned by Dame Rachel de Souza. Dame Rachel said children were racking up hours of screen time at home instead, and that parents needed more help managing their children's online habits. Her comments come as the general secretary of the UK's largest teaching union said a government ban on phones would "take the pressure off schools". Dame Rachel's survey suggests 99.8% of primary and 90% of secondary schools limit pupils' use of phones during the school day. Most primary schools (76%) require pupils to hand in their phones or leave them ... Read full article.