Since launching this petition, significant progress has been made.  We want to thank every supporter who has helped push this issue into the spotlight.

 

We welcome the government’s recent announcement to place the Mobile Phones in Schools Guidance on a statutory footing. This is a positive and important step forward. Alongside this, amendments brought forward in the House of Lords, ongoing consultations on Keeping Children Safe in Education, and increased national scrutiny all signal that this issue is finally being taken seriously.  However, as always, the detail matters and the current proposals still fall short of what is needed to fully safeguard children and school communities.

 

Over the past two years, as have others - we have campaigned relentlessly on this issue, and alongside my daughter who was exposed to explicit content as a 13/14 year old within her form room at an “outstanding’ school we decided to support a judicial review that highlighted serious safeguarding concerns.  I am confident this collective pressure has contributed to the progress we are now seeing. But we are not finished yet.

 

We are now calling on the government to go further and strengthen its guidance to ensure it is clear, enforceable, and truly protects children - to tighten the guidance so that the safeguarding expectation is undeniable - we continue to call for smartphones to be prohibited from site in all of our schools and to allow for non-internet simple mobile 'brick' phones only.

 

What we are asking for next:

• A clear distinction between smartphones and basic non internet no camera mobile phones
  Smartphones present significantly higher risks due to internet access, social media, and multimedia recording. Guidance must explicitly differentiate these from simple call-and-text devices.
• Smartphone-free primary schools without question.
  Children aged 9–11 (years 5 to 6) are currently bringing smartphones into primary schools. This is a critical oversight. Primary schools should be smartphone-free sites  (with medical exemptions where necessary).  Whilst our primary schools accommodate such devices the normalisation of smartphone in childhood continues and peer pressure effects school children from 9 years old.
• A strong expectation of smartphone-free school sites as best practice (Reception to Year 11)
  Guidance should be clear to mitigate all risks of personal internet devices, the safest and most effective approach is prohibition: just as schools already do with other harmful or distracting items.  Harmful items  are not accommodated in lockers and expensive pouches - they are prohibited from site. Simple.
• No public funding for ineffective “containment” solutions
  Public money should not be spent on phone pouches or lockers. These are sticking-plaster solutions that fail to address risks beyond the school gate, places such as school bus journeys, day trips and residential's and create additional burdens for staff in managing devices as securely stored.
  If schools choose such systems, costs should not fall on taxpayers - especially when a simple, effective, and free solution exists: prohibition.
• A clear rejection of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ policies
  “No see, no hear” approaches are not compatible with safeguarding responsibilities and should be explicitly ruled out.  Solutions that still allow items to be carried around on their person in pockets & bags are impossible to police and will ultimately result in students accessing smartphones.  Even where pouches are used and carried around, these are likely to still cause students distractions as they long to find ways to open their pouches to access additive by design products - smartphones.  Evidence proves out of sight is not out of mind.
• Stronger accountability for school leaders when safeguarding fails
  If headteachers are to retain flexibility in implementation, government must make it clear:
  failure to comply with statutory safeguarding duties - including but not limited to protection from harmful online content, cyberbullying and non-consensual filming all facilitated by smartphones could result in liability where harm occurs where a school has duty of care.
• Support for practical, low-risk alternatives
  Where communication is needed, basic non-internet mobiles are a safe option. These can be switched off and stored in bags in secondary schools and handed in on arrival within primary school.  Giving peace of mind to parents should communication on the school run be required. Simple, effective,  manageable and free for schools.                    

These asks are not about removing autonomy from schools, it is about giving school leaders the clarity, confidence, and government backing they need to prioritise safeguarding over competing pressures.  There is still too much confusion around these issues.

 

Smartphone mis-use is consistently the number 1 issue leading to safeguarding concerns within our schools.  School leaders should not be expected to accommodate items which directly facilitate significant risks to their school communities.

 

Smartphone-free schools who prohibit smartphones from site exist and are slowly growing in numbers - but not fast enough.  Too many families are still fighting this battle alone and too many school children continue to be exposed to harms facilitated by a smartphone.  Most Headteachers want to do the right thing, but they need strong, unambiguous support.

 

The evidence is already clear. We do not need further consultations or delays. Further ineffective amendments.  Now is the time to act decisively:
To put the safety and wellbeing of all school children before parental choice, before convenience, before commercial interests, 

 

Thank you for continuing to support this petition.  Please share far and wide.  We will announce soon a date to return to No.10 and ask again - for an urgent review of the Mobile Phone in schools guidance and to once and for all get it right.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________

 

May 2025

 

Original Ask:

We urge the Department for Education (DfE) to urgently review its mobile phone guidance to address serious safeguarding risks posed by smartphones in and around schools. The current guidance fails to distinguish between basic non-internet mobile phones and smartphones - two vastly different technologies with profoundly different implications for child safety and wellbeing.

 
The Problem

Under current DfE guidance devices are summarised as “mobile phones,” failing to differentiate between:

Traditional Basic Mobile Phones – Non-internet devices which allow for calls and texts only.

Smartphones (Inc Smart watches) – Advanced Internet-enabled devices with access to social media, high-resolution cameras, video, location tracking, file sharing, and unrestricted browsing.

This lack of differentiation gives headteachers autonomy without the clarity needed to make informed policy decisions. As a result, smartphones continue to be permitted and left in the possession of students in many schools - despite growing concerns from parents, educators, and safeguarding professionals.

The current non-statutory guidance which states developing a policy on prohibiting the use of mobile phones, offers four suggested options, including option (d): “Never used, seen or heard”.  This option is impossible for schools to fully monitor or enforce. 

 
Why This Matters

Smartphones pose significant safeguarding risks in schools:

• Sharing of explicit images and videos via Airdrop, WhatsApp and other APPS.
• Filming and posting of students on social media consensually and non-consensually.
• Exposure to predators via age-inappropriate apps and location-tracking apps like SnapMap.
• Peer pressure and indirect exposure to harmful content via a peer’s device.
• Distraction from learning and mental health impacts.

Beyond school grounds, smartphones increase risks of vulnerability to crime due to their value, stalking via tracking features like Snap Map, and road traffic accidents due to screen distraction. Often smartphones are coming into school with no age restrictions or parental controls to what content is accessible. Students can often share their screens inside and outside of the school gates exposing other students without smartphones to potential inappropriate content or filming without parental oversight.

Despite multiple calls on government to raise the digital age of consent from 13 to 16, the government has declined to act, citing ongoing research, and running research projects into the impact of smartphones and social media. This alone acknowledges existing concern. In line with the precautionary principle, because schools must safeguard students as a priority, stronger protective measures must be implemented while such research continues into the harms smartphones directly facilitate is understood.

 
The Current Guidance Is Failing to Safeguard School Children

Schools are applying their own ‘mobile phone’ policies creating inconsistency around the country, it is now a postcode lottery for genuinely smartphone free schools. Non-statutory guidance leaves room for ineffective policies including "Never used, seen or heard" - which allow smartphones to remain in students’ possession.

This approach contradicts statutory safeguarding duties in Keeping Children Safe in Education (Sections 134–137). Schools that also allow smartphone access on school buses, day trips, and residential's also conflict with these statutory safeguarding guidelines.

What We Are Asking For

We request the DfE amend its Mobile Phones in Schools guidance :

1. To differentiate between basic non-internet mobile phones and smartphones / smartwatches
2. Remove option d) ("Never used, seen or heard") from official guidance.
3. Make the guidance statutory, aligning with safeguarding duties and create consistency.

Primary (Prep) and Middle Schools

• Permit only basic, non-internet phones for pupils walking independently.
• Devices must be handed in at the start of the day and collected at the end.

This would be an age-appropriate policy for primary schools who allow their older pupils - often years 5 and 6 (aged 9- 11) with permission from parents to walk independently to and from school.

Secondary Schools

Most Protective:

• Option a: No phones allowed.
• Option b: Only basic non-internet mobile phones allowed; no smartphones onsite permitted.

Controlled Access:

• Option c: Smartphones prohibited for Years 7–9 only basic phones; optional for Years 10–11 if smartphones stored securely; strict use policy agreement for Years 12–13.

Least Protective:

• Option d: All smartphones collected and stored daily by the school.

Note: For option b, a “not seen, used or heard” policy could apply if only basic phones permitted.  Allowing for easier management for schools opting for this policy.

Any additional options must ensure smartphones / smartdevices are not accessible during the school day. Access to smartphones also needs to be prohibited on school bus trips / day trips / residential's in order to keep in line with safe guarding duties to all students.

Medical exemptions should be considered for primary middle and secondary on a case-by-case basis.

 
Enough Is Enough

Smartphones are no longer simple communication tools—they are gateways to significant safeguarding risks. Their presence in schools directly conflicts with the DfE’s own safeguarding principles.

We call on the Department for Education to act now - introduce clear, statutory guidance that protects children, reflects the realities of today’s digital environment and the risk to student safety by what a smartphone can facilitate.

Please note: Those signing this petition, firstly Thank you!! Secondly you may notice in the coming weeks a similar government e-petition, please sign both! The government are not obliged to respond to change. org petitions so the government e-petition is important to get an official government response.  However, I have started a change. org one in order to fully explain the reasons as to why this is so important as you do not have this option on the government site - it is very limited.  Plus, I intend to hand this particular petition into No.10 Downing Street personally.  

Thank you for your support!!