Yesterday, Health Professionals for Safer Screens joined Minister Olivia Bailey at the Department for Education for an important roundtable on phone-free schools.
Dr Becky Foljambe and Arabella Skinner attended on behalf of our network of health professionals who see, every day, the impact that smartphones and constant connectivity are having on children’s mental health, attention, sleep, and social development.
It was heartening to be in a room with parents, safeguarding leads, academics and campaigners who are all calling for the same thing: safer, calmer and more supportive learning environments for children.
With only 11% of secondary schools operating an effective “lock-away” phone policy, and the vast majority relying on “out of sight” approaches that simply don’t work, children are being set up to fail.
Schools that have implemented proper phone-free systems are already seeing the benefits: better behaviour, improved concentration, stronger results, richer social interaction, and a noticeable drop in safeguarding incidents.
As health professionals, we fully support decisive government action to protect children’s wellbeing. We welcome Minister Bailey’s engagement and the shared recognition across the table that change is urgently needed.
Now, we need to move from momentum to meaningful action.
Children deserve learning environments that prioritise their health and their future.