ST0028

Written evidence submitted by Dr Victoria Goodyear, Professor Miranda Pallan, Dr Amie Randhawa

 

 

In this written evidence submission, we address the question:

 

What policies and practices are schools developing to manage children’s recreational screen usage, particularly mobile phones?

 

We summarise our current National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded SMART Schools Study: Smartphones, social Media and Adolescent mental wellbeing: impact of school policies Restricting daytime use.

 

THE SMART SCHOOLS STUDY - April 2022-July 2024 – funded by NIHR, full protocol published BMJOpen[1]

 

  1. The SMART Schools Study aims to determine the impact of school daytime restrictions of smartphone use on adolescent mental wellbeing, anxiety, depression, physical activity, sleep, disruptive classroom behaviour, attainment, and addictive social media use. Outcomes will be compared in schools that:

 

    1. Do not permit phone use during recreational time during the school day.
    2. Permit phone use during recreational time (breaks/lunch).

 

  1. Pupil outcome data will be collected from a minimum of 30 secondary schools across England, and 1170 pupils aged 12-13 (year 8) and 14-15 (year 10), using surveys and accelerometers.

 

  1. Data on screentime and social media use will be self-reported from pupils’ iOS (Screen Time) and Android devices (Digital Wellbeing).

 

  1. From document analysis of school policies and surveys with teachers and senior leadership team members, the content, implementation, and cost implications of phone policies will be determined.

 

  1. Focus group discussions with pupils, teachers, and parents, will explain how the school and family/home environment influences how phone policies affect adolescent phone/social media use.

 

PRE-LIMINARY FINDINGS

 

  1. There is an overwhelming direction of travel in England to ban phones in schools.

Phone Policy Change in England

  • In 2020, 70% of secondary schools in the West Midlands (n=292) had restrictive phone policies.
  • In 2022, 90% of a sample of 1343 secondary schools across England had restrictive policies.
  • In June 2023, a further 25 schools in the sample changed their policies to restrict phone use.

        *the sample excludes special and independent schools

 

  1. Approaches to restricting phones use varies, and there are different types of school phone policies that restrict, and permit phone use in schools across England

Restrictive School Smartphone Policies

Permissive School Smartphone Policies

Allow smartphones onto school premises but insist these are not to be used during the school day and are turned off and out of sight

Allow pupils to carry smartphones and use them at any time point during the day

Allow smartphones onto premises but insist they are left in a specified place during the school day e.g., school reception or lockers

Allow pupils to carry smartphones and use them at specific time points during the day (e.g., breaks and lunch)

Pupils are not allowed to carry their smartphones onto school premises at any time

Allow pupils to carry smartphones and use them for personal use with consent from school staff

Phones are locked away in a pouch that pupils carry with them during the day e.g., Yondr Pouch

Allow pupils to carry smartphones and use within designated areas or zones (e.g., cafeteria, outside school buildings)

 

  1. In some schools that restrict or permit phone use during recreational time, phone use is allowed during lesson time if sanctioned by a teacher for an educational activity (e.g., use of a calculator).

 

  1. It is expected that evidence will be made available from the SMART Schools Study from July 2024

 

Timeline 

Evidence

Spring 2024

  • School mobile phone policy design and implementation in England
  • School-based and family/home factors that influence relationships between school phone policies, phone use and mental wellbeing

Summer 2024

  • Associations between phone use and mental wellbeing
  • Effects of school phone policies on phone use, mental health, physical activity and sleep, and attainment and behaviour
  • An economic evaluation of the costs and consequences of school smartphone policies in England

 

  1. Further information about the SMART Schools Study can be accessed from our protocol2

 

October 2023

2


 

[1]Wood G, Goodyear V, Adab P, Al-Janabi H, Fenton S, Jones K, Michail M, Morrison B, Patterson P, Sitch AJ, Wade M, Pallan M. Smartphones, social Media and Adolescent mental well-being: the impact of school policies Restricting dayTime use-protocol for a natural experimental observational study using mixed methods at secondary schools in England (SMART Schools Study). BMJ Open. 2023 Jul 5;13(7):e075832. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075832