Many Dorset schools are currently rethinking their mobile phone policies - but they need to know how parents feel. 

This is urgent. A clear message now will encourage change to happen sooner rather than later. 

The evidence is overwhelming. Studies conclusively show that allowing smartphones in school impedes our children's ability to learn, reduces their focus and poses a serious safeguarding issue. They make it harder for children to thrive. 

• Children at smartphone free schools get GCSE grades 1-2 grades higher than those at schools with less strict policies. 
• Schools that have banned phones have reported a reduction in truancy by up to 80%, and a reduction in safeguarding incidents by up to 75% and an improvement in staff wellbeing. 
• “No see, no hear” policies don’t work. Studies have found that the mere presence of a smartphone reduces cognitive capacity. These policies place too much of a burden on the child.
• Smartphones are designed by the brightest engineers in the world to capture and hold our children's attention, to make money. It is not a fair fight. 

There will always be exemptions (such as medical needs), but most children do not need a smartphone to travel to school. A simple brick phone is more than enough.

Have a look at the evidence and make your own mind up. 

Dorset parents are calling on Head Teachers across the county to take collective action, and make all primary and secondary schools (until aged 16), genuinely smartphone free.

This isn't just schools' problem, but it's too big for parents to tackle alone. If schools and parents come together, the norm in Dorset will change. 

Let’s take collective action together, and allow our children to thrive.

Childhood is too short to be spent on a smartphone. 

*genuinely smartphone free means there is no access to smartphones during the school day. Devices are either handed in, placed in lockers or pouches, or not allowed to be brought to school at all.