How 'total ban' on mobile phones in schools will be backed by the Sottish Government

Scottish head teachers will have Government backing if they ban mobile phones from schools, it has been announced, as a long-awaited action plan on school violence was unveiled.

New guidelines have been published amid growing concern about the impact of the devices on behaviour and learning.

Legislation will not change, and final decisions on any bans will remain with head teachers, many of whom have already developed policies on phones.

However, the Scottish Government is clarifying the options available to schools.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “Mobile phone use impacts on learning and teaching. Within this context it is important that Scotland’s headteachers are empowered to act in the best interests of their pupils, to support our hard-working teachers to ensure a consistent learning environment is provided to all pupils in our classrooms.

“That means empowering headteachers to take the steps they see fit to limit the use of mobile phones in our schools, up to and including a full ban on the school estate during the school day, if that is their judgement. I am clear in publishing this guidance that, as Cabinet Secretary, I will support any headteacher who decides to institute a ban on mobile phones in their school.”

However, Scottish Conservative education spokesman Liam Kerr MSP said: “This is an extremely belated response from the SNP government to a significant problem they have ignored for too long.

“The Scottish Conservatives have led the calls for schools to have the power to ban mobile phones to maintain classroom discipline.

“What Jenny Gilruth’s statement does not address is the difficulty they will have in doing so, thanks to the SNP’s broken promise that they would provide a laptop or tablet to every school pupil in Scotland – a problem highlighted to the education secretary at a recent meeting with teachers.

 “If head teachers now decide to introduce a ban on mobile phone use, they must have the resources to implement it without pupils’ education suffering.”

Unesco, the UN's education, science and culture agency, warned last year that smartphones cause distraction, a risk to pupil privacy and lead to cyber-bullying.

In Scotland, a long-awaited study on deteriorating school behaviour in November found it was one of the most frequently raised issues among secondary teachers, with 88 per cent dealing daily with pupils looking at phones instead of paying attention in class.

There have also been growing concerns about the filming of violent incidents among pupils, with footage then being posted on social media.

Meanwhile, in December the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) linked rising misuse of such technology to the declining performance of many countries, including Scotland, in the respected Pisa tests of the performance of 15-year-olds in maths, science and reading.

Many Scottish head teachers already do not allow their use in the classroom, although it is understood full bans are rare, with parents often keen to be able to contact their children during the day if required.

The new guidance was published alongside a long-awaited action plan to address school violence.

After a series of summits were held last year, which discussed issues such as a confusion over exclusions policy and a lack of standardised reporting of incidents, the Scottish Government said in November that a detailed action plan would be “developed in the coming weeks and published in the new year”.

However, it was repeatedly delayed, most recently as a result of the UK general election.

Andrea Bradley, the head of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the nation’s largest teaching union, previously revealed she was refusing to sign-off on the action plan unless it included investment in additional resources.

Reacting to the plan’s publication on Thursday, Ms Bradley said: “Whilst there are some elements of the plan which we believe are helpful, in its entirety, and most significantly, as an action plan to tackle what seems to have been accepted by government to be a very real problem, it fails to identify how, where and to what extent, the requisite resources will be channelled towards solving or even alleviating, the problem of disruptive, violent and aggressive behaviour in our schools.

“Reference in the document to the ‘challenging financial situation’ does not provide the necessary reassurance to teachers, school staff, parents and pupils that the action plan will address what are very real health and safety concerns in our schools.”

Mike Corbett, national official at the NASUWT union, said: “NASUWT welcomes the National Action Plan on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools, which formally acknowledges the difficulties around behaviour, recognises that serious consequences are needed for serious misbehaviour, including exclusion where necessary, and makes commitments on other important matters, such as seeking improved reporting of violent/abusive incidents, including those which involve racism/misogyny.

“We are obviously disappointed that there appears to be a lack of additional resources specifically being committed to delivery of the plan, as some suggested actions will undoubtedly need this.

“We would also highlight the vital importance of the action plan being communicated and monitored effectively if it is to make a real difference in schools.

“Nevertheless, we will work with members to help embed the action plan and sincerely hope that it will lead to a safer and more productive environment where learners can flourish.”

The joint action plan is split into three phases and sets out 20 key actions to be delivered between 2024 and 2027

The first phase, which runs from now until the end of March next year, focusses on providing guidance to councils and schools on building strong relationships and high expectations, as well as providing clarity on the range of approaches and consequences that are available, “including exclusion where there is no appropriate alternative”.

It also promises “updated guidance on reporting, recording and monitoring bullying incidents”, and the start of “further work to consider the simplification of approaches to recording all behaviours in schools”.

The second phase, from April 2025 until the end of March 2026, includes the publication of a whole school approach to “preventing and responding to racism and racist incidents”, and the commissioning of a national review on the implementation of the gender-based violence in schools framework.

The third phase aims to “embed cultural change” between April 2026 until the end of March 2027. It involves a national review by the HM Inspector on relationships and behaviour, as well as further research into behaviour in schools. The document states: “Given the complexities of factors underpinning behaviour, improving relationships and behaviour in schools will not be a short-term task.

“This plan aims to put in place the building blocks that will put us on the correct trajectory to reinforce a positive culture and ethos in schools, embed and disseminate developing practice to promote positive behaviour and create safe and consistent environments in schools.”

Ms Gilruth said: “Since the last action plan on relationships and behaviour in Scotland’s schools was published in 2017, our children and young people have experienced periods of significant challenge, including a global pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis which is causing real difficulty for families across the country.

“There is no doubt this has had a major impact on their schooling and how they learn.

“Improving relationships, behaviour and attendance in schools is one of my top priorities as education secretary.”

She added: “While it is clear that the vast majority of pupils in our schools continue to behave well, there are undoubtedly growing behavioural issues associated with mobile phones.

“This new guidance empowers head teachers to take the steps they see fit for their school to limit the use of mobile phones, including a full ban on the school estate if they feel that is required and I would encourage teachers to take all the steps they feel necessary to combat these issues.”

Tony Buchanan, Cosla spokesperson for children and young people, said: “Ensuring children and young people feel supported, safe and ready to learn is of vital importance to local government, and we need to make sure schools are safe and welcoming places for all.

“We have worked closely with the Scottish Government and our partners across education system to develop the action plan and guidance published today. We will continue to work in partnership to enable the provision of the best possible support, in and out of school, so that children and young people to get the most out of their learning."