Primary school pupils using computers and tablets for tests is normalising screen time for young children, the Conservatives have claimed.
Shadow education secretary Laura Trott said the Government was instilling screen usage for children as young as four, as the Government came under pressure to ban smartphones in schools.
Ms Trott said the policy was supported by teachers, health professionals and parents.
She said: “Every day we have new evidence of the harm screens are doing. So why is the Education Secretary (Bridget Phillipson) ignoring this, and still pressing ahead with screen-based assessments for children as young as four from September?
“Does she accept that this is normalising screen time for young people, which is the opposite of what we should be doing?”
Education minister Stephen Morgan said: “Is this all she can go on? Frankly, after 14 years, they broke the education system. As I said, there’s guidance already in place for schools, the majority of schools already have a ban in place on mobile phone use.”
Earlier in the Commons, Mr Morgan had told MPs mobile phones had “no place” in schools. He said Government guidance said schools should ban the use of smartphones during the school day. However ,he said it was up to schools to use their powers to take them off pupils.
Conservative MPs raised the links between mobile phone usage and violent behaviour, as well as schools with bans having better grades on average.
Conservative MP Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) said: “Schools with smartphone bans were rated higher by Ofsted, and their students achieved better GCSE results. So all the evidence shows the benefit of banning smartphones in schools.
“But the Government is simply issuing non-statutory guidance and passing the buck. So does the minister not understand the evidence, need more evidence, or do you not trust the Government to be able to implement a ban on smartphones in schools?”
Meanwhile, John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) said: “Mobile phones in classrooms are linked to disruptive and violent behaviour. So does the minister agree with me that mobile phones should be banned in all schools, so the children are focused on their education and not glued to Instagram and TikTok?”
While in government, the then Conservative education secretary, Gillian Keegan, sent guidance to schools that told headteachers they could ban mobile phones during the school day. However, this was short of an out-and-out ban.
Since their election defeat last year, the Conservatives have pushed for Labour to introduce a full ban. In March, it tried to amend Labour’s flagship education policy to legally prohibit smartphone usage. A Government spokesperson said the existing guidance meant about 97% of schools restrict mobile phone use in some way.
Studies are unclear on the impact of a smartphone ban. One by the University of Birmingham, published in the Lancet earlier this year, suggested there was no link.
Replying to Ms Bool, Mr Morgan said: “I’ll take no lectures from the benches opposite on this. When in government, they exclaimed the same guidance meant a consistent approach across all schools. So you have to ask, were they wrong then, are they wrong now?”
