Abstract:
England, UK, will further strengthen the ban on mobile phones in schools. Starting from September 2027, students will no longer be allowed to just turn off their mobile phones and put them in their pockets or bags during school. Schools must take stricter measures to ensure that students cannot have access to personal mobile phones throughout the school period to create a truly "mobile phone-free campus."
In fact, according to the relevant provisions of the British Child Welfare and Schools Act, schools in England are currently required to become mobile phone-free environments. However, many schools have previously adopted an "out of sight, out of hearing" management model, allowing students to bring mobile phones into campus as long as the devices remain turned off and stored in pockets or bags.
However, a survey recently released by the British Education Department showed that only 16% of middle school students believed that their classmates always abide by the school's existing mobile phone management regulations. The results prompted the government to decide to further tighten the policy and abandon the original practice of allowing mobile phones to be left in school bags.
Under new guidance, schools need to ensure that mobile phones are completely out of reach of students during school hours. To achieve this goal, schools can use a variety of measures, such as requiring students to put mobile phones in special lock bags, storing them in secure lockers at school each day, or simply banning students from bringing mobile phones to campus.
Lucy Powell, the British education secretary responsible for promoting the new policy, said that schools should be places for learning and building friendships, rather than a platform for students to indulge in mobile phones and social media. She emphasized that children should not use smartphones throughout their school life, as the government hopes to move further towards a truly mobile-free classroom.
However, the new regulations have also caused concerns among some people in the education sector. Headteachers' organizations and education unions say additional funding will be needed to implement tougher measures. For example, in order to prevent students from sneaking mobile phones into classrooms, some schools have purchased metal detectors, special mobile phone lock bags, and secure storage equipment. Burnage Academy for Boys in Manchester is said to have invested around £20,000 in the project.
Educators believe that if all schools are required to be equipped with lockable mobile phone bags or large-scale secure storage facilities in the future, the associated costs will be considerable. Without additional funding from the government, schools will face considerable financial pressure.
England is not the only region to tighten regulations on mobile phones in schools. The United Nations has repeatedly reminded countries to pay attention to the impact of smartphones on the school education environment. Countries such as France, Finland and the Netherlands have already implemented similar restrictions. In the United States, 46 states have passed laws or issued state-level policies to regulate the use of smartphones by primary and secondary school students.
Researchers who support restrictions on mobile phones link the popularity of smartphones and social media to an increase in mental health problems among teenagers, including an increase in anxiety, depression and self-harm behavior. They advocate minimizing students’ exposure to mobile phones in school settings to help improve concentration, learning, and face-to-face social skills.
As the new regulations will officially take effect in September 2027, schools in England may completely bid farewell to the transitional management model of "putting mobile phones in school bags" in the future, and instead implement a stricter mobile phone-free campus system. By then, students will have almost no access to personal smartphones during school, and the British government hopes to further improve classroom order and students' physical and mental health.
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