Plans to ban mobile phones in schools across England have been confirmed by ministers. It's a practice already widely adopted in schools already. I'm here in Birmingham to see whether people support the ban and generally get people's thoughts on smartphone use amongst youngsters.
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00:00 So I am a teacher, I'm a secondary school teacher and I do think they should be banned
00:07 and we were actually debating this at work today. Something that is actually a massive
00:11 problem is how addicted young people are to their phones. So my year 11, for example,
00:16 recently did a mock exam. The question was things I can't live without. Without any exceptions,
00:21 every single one of my class put their phone above their family, above their pets, above
00:24 their friends. And it's quite horrifying. Like I knew they were addicted and we've seen
00:29 it as a real issue, particularly the last few years since COVID, where the students
00:32 have been much more reliant on their technology. So I knew they were addicted, but I think
00:37 just seeing it as like stuck there, black and white on paper, that they class it as
00:40 the main thing they can't live without. I think it does need to be clearer for schools
00:45 to be able to tackle this because it is a massive distraction in class. The amount of
00:50 students who I don't think they even realise that they're constantly in their pockets,
00:54 constantly checking their phones, constantly just distracted by this. They don't even seem
00:58 to realise that they are. Of course, yeah, I think that it's been a long time coming.
01:02 It's been needed. Personally, when I was in school growing up, it was social media was
01:08 up and coming. All the new platforms were up and coming. And I think it has taken a
01:13 toll on not only mental health, but again, going back to the previous question, it does
01:20 affect and influence a lot of today's day and age with everything, really. Everything.
01:27 It's social media, rules, everything. And personally, myself, I completely agree that
01:34 that should be banned. Mobile phones. I think perhaps there needs to be restricting them
01:41 a little bit more in schools. I don't think there should be a blanket ban because there's
01:45 always a chance that the child might need to contact a parent, even though the school
01:50 is supposed to be able to, but while they're accessing the child, visit themselves. So
01:55 I don't think a blanket ban is necessary. Perhaps more clamp down, switch your phones
02:00 off when you're into school, turn them back on when you leave school.
02:04 I'm 100% for it because what you're in school for is to learn. You're there for education.
02:14 As you said, how many hours are you in school for? Let's say, I don't know, nine to four,
02:20 nine to three. So within there, you have your friends, you can chat to during break time,
02:27 you have your teachers. It really does foster, without using mobile phones, it really does
02:32 foster your social life, being able to talk to people, being able to develop social relationships
02:38 with your peers and even people older than you.
02:42 Cell phone usage affects everybody and we're all the same. We get hooked to those little
02:48 shiny screens and it affects every age group. I think the stereotype of a teenager glued
02:54 to the phone, it's not just teenagers anymore. It's our parents. Our parents are in their
03:00 seventies and they are glued to their phones. It's all of us.
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