Teach-Primary-Issue-19.7

www.teachwire.net | 15 Phillip McKenna Keeping children from using smartphones in school altogether is just pushing the problem further down the line... We need to focus on phone habits, not bans VO I C E S A round the world, schools are starting to ban smartphones – in fact, a survey of more than 15,000 schools found that 99.8 per cent of primary schools in England now enforce some form of restriction, often with the promise of better behaviour or improved learning ( tinyurl.com/tp-PhoneBans ) . But this approach misses something important: instead of banning phones outright, these early years are the ideal moment to start building healthy habits. Children today are growing up surrounded by technology; according to Ofcom one in five children aged three or four have a phone, and by age 11, it’s nine out of 10 ( tinyurl.com/ tp-OfcomPhones ). They didn’t choose it – it’s simply the world they were born into. Instead of making smartphones feel like something forbidden or dangerous, schools have a chance here to help children learn the basics of using them sensibly and with balance. Balancing act Of course, no one is suggesting six-year-olds should be glued to screens or scrolling social media. Safeguards matter, and children need plenty of time to play, move, and learn face to face. Phones should complement real-life experiences, not replace them. An outright ban wastes the chance to start shaping healthy habits at the age when children are learning all their other daily responsibilities. Primary is where children learn to cross the road safely, share toys, and tidy up after themselves. Phone habits can be just as simple: knowing when to put it down, how to focus on one thing at a time, and how to ask questions if something online doesn’t feel right. These lessons, learned gradually, build a foundation for later life. Intent over intrigue Another risk of blanket bans is that if a child’s first experience with phones at school is simply being told they’re ‘not allowed’, the device becomes cast as the bad thing. When schools treat phones as ‘forbidden fruit’, children only become more curious. They end up sneaking them under the desk, in their coat pockets, or at home in secret. That doesn’t make phones less of a distraction, it just makes them harder to talk about. Instead, children should learn to see phones as one tool among many: sometimes useful, sometimes not. The real lesson is helping them understand the difference. Learning first This doesn’t mean giving children a phone all day. It’s about showing them simple, age-appropriate ways technology can have a positive role. For example: • Practising times tables with a maths app. • Listening to an audiobook during reading time. • Taking photos of nature on a class walk. • Recording themselves reading aloud to track progress. • Working together on a shared quiz or project with classmates. By weaving in moments like these, phones stop being mysterious or purely about entertainment. They become tools children learn to pick up with purpose and put down again when they’re no longer needed. In the process, they begin to understand boundaries and build a healthier relationship with technology that can support them well into adulthood. Lead the way The world outside education doesn’t ban phones, so schools have a vital role and the responsibility in helping children learn how to balance technology with the rest of life, just as they do with any other skill or habit. That can look like: • Modelling good use by showing when phones support learning, and when they become a distraction. • Encouraging switch-off moments during playtime, lessons, and bedtime. • Building healthy routines that make balance and boundaries feel natural from the start. Primary school is where children build their foundations – in reading, writing, maths, and kindness. Digital responsibility should now be part of that foundation too. Since smartphones aren’t going anywhere, the sooner children learn to use them calmly and confidently, the better prepared they’ll be for secondary school and the wider world. TP Phillip McKenna is the co-founder of SimpleStudy, the Duolingo of exam revision. simplestudy.com