Sandwell headteacher calling for phones to be banned for all under-16s
Q3 Academy Langley has had phones banned in their school for the last 9 years
A Sandwell headteacher is calling for phones to be banned for all under 16s to curb problems with cyber-bullying.
Q3 Academy Langley has had a phone ban in place at their school for the last 9 years.
'Sleep walking towards disaster'
It comes as the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey has said a school phone ban would have helped her daughter, as she launches a campaign for a statutory ban in schools.
But, headteacher Peter Lee told us he thinks the government should go further and ban phones for under-16s, all together:
"We are sleep walking towards disaster as a nation and banning phones would alleviate some of the challenges that young people face," he said.
'Bullying issues in school'
Peter Lee told us he has had a phone ban implemented at the Q3 Academy Langley for the last 9 years:
"They have to hand the phones into a box and that then gets locked away for the day. They can then only turn them on, when they exit the school gates.
"We were experiencing lots of bullying issues in school. Children were then texting parents, who were turning up at the school reception. That is part of the reason why we did it," he said.
How many schools ban phones?
A survey by the Children's Commissioner earlier this year found 90% of secondary schools and 99.8% of primary schools already have policies in place to stop the use of phones during the school day.
However, the survey found around 10% of secondary schools allowed pupils to use their phones at some point during the school day.
But, headteacher Peter Lee told us a ban on children being able to own a phone all together would be a far more impactful solution.