Education review could see mobile phones and tablets banned from classrooms
Pupils could soon be banned from taking mobile phones and tablets into classrooms as the government looks to address ways to tackle bad behaviour at school.
Tom Bennett, the Department for Education discipline expert, will undertake a wide-ranging inquiry into how schools can improve pupils' behaviour in class in relation to smartphones and tablets.
The investigation will specifically address teachers' concerns that pupils are distracted from their work by their mobile devices. He is already working on reforms to teacher training courses so that new school staff are better able to enforce discipline in the classroom.
Speaking to the Telegraph Bennett said that "technology is transforming society and even classrooms – but all too often we hear of lessons being disrupted by the temptation of the smartphone".
He added that schools were looking at ways to address the problem but that he would "probe deeper into this issue, and behaviour challenges more broadly, to uncover the real extent of the problem and see what we can do to ensure all children focus on their learning”.
With more than 90 per cent of teenagers owning a mobile phone, the issue is clearly a priority in reviewing classroom behaviour. There is currently no education legislation regarding mobile phones in classrooms however a recent study by the London School of Economics claimed that schools which t banned them saw test scores rise by an average of 6 per cent.