What a week it has been as Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, took to the airwaves and the stage at the Conservative Party conference to report that 'south of the border' mobile phones are to be banned in the school day, including break-times. Hearing this news at 7am on Monday morning was a euphoric moment for me!

However, please let us avoid making such an important topic a political chew toy. Dame Rachel De Souza, Children's Commissioner for England, has thankfully called the proposed ban 'no bad thing.' Gillian Keegan seems robust in asking that this guidance is acknowledged and applied by schools, reminding us it is not law, but that she would threaten legislation 'if this guidance is ignored.'

 I write to you in hesitation to declare victory here and would very greatly welcome any comments you have as to what we do next? I, like you I am sure, will have questions as to how, and how quickly this guidance can be applied in England and challenge why it cannot become UK driven. The tired argument of the 'genie being out of the bottle' proposed by a senior member of a Glasgow private school felt disheartening this week, as we read about her endorsing these devices as they 'can help with diabetic control and anxiety.' For diabetic children there could obviously be wholly justified exceptions with parental support. However, the anxiety argument, in my mind, is watery thin as most smartphones worsen anxiety most of the time for teenagers, especially pre-teen girls. Needing an electronic device to self-soothe is not a powerful antidote to the challenges of the wider world, and just drives children further into this parallel universe where lasting, meaningful relationships cannot be found, nor can sustainable resilience be built. It is not a small thing that the United Nations released their own report on this in July, nor that UNESCO, the organisation's agency for education, science and culture, stated that 'excessive use of mobile phones was linked to lower educational attainment and harming a child's emotional stability.' The report itself concluded that 'banning phones from classrooms would reduce disruption, improve learning and promote the wellbeing of children.'

We need to help teachers and be the parents that make this work, and to read the evidence now being produced, and make this the basis of our decisions around smartphones in the hands of our children. This is not about genies in bottles, this is about our treasured, brilliant children and the scientific facts that are now showing us the harm of these devices. It would be completely negligent not to listen. And more negligent still not to react.

I want to thank and congratulate Us for Them and their brilliant #safescreensforteens campaign. I urge you to sign up if you haven't already. I also want to cheerlead the incredible articles written this year by Juliet Samuel, William Hague and Sophie Winkleman. 

Nice to know I wasn't going mad when I put up my petition in March 2020. Thank you for the journey everyone.

Are we ready to declare victory? Please post your comments!

Dr Becky Foljambe