00:00We've found ourselves in a really complex situation with the online world and with phones, smartphones, and it's not ever
00:10going to be one thing that's going to fix everything.
00:13We need to take a multi-pronged approach, and this is just one part of the puzzle that's going to
00:20help children to focus and also safeguard children in schools.
00:25New laws are set to tighten how smartphones are used in schools in England, with ministers planning to put existing
00:32guidance on a statutory footing.
00:35It follows calls for clearer national rules on phone use during the school day.
00:40The government says most schools already restrict mobile phones, but it wants to ensure consistent enforcement across the system.
00:47As such, phones are to be banned in schools by law in England under government plans.
00:55My experience with Brianna's phone use, during the three years that she was at Birchwood, there were 120 safeguarding logs
01:05around Brianna's phone use.
01:07This ranged from Brianna being at risk of child sexual exploitation to what she was accessing online that was encouraging
01:14her to self-harm and to have an eating disorder.
01:16And there were also 116 behaviour logs as well.
01:21These ranged from Brianna going on a phone under the table in classroom, refusing to put a phone away, going
01:28to the toilet to film TikTok videos.
01:31And as a parent, I really felt like I was failing.
01:35I didn't know what to do.
01:39Brianna's phone use at home was also concerning, and I had lots of meetings with the school.
01:44We had a team around the family meetings.
01:46We had so many professionals that were trying to help us, but absolutely nobody knew what to do.
01:53For me, it would have really helped Brianna.
01:56So it would have helped her to focus on her schoolwork.
02:00She wouldn't have been getting into so much trouble because all of the issues were around her phone use.
02:05And she would have had a much better chance in life.
02:08She would have been able to focus on her education.
02:10She would have been able to make friends with her peers.
02:15Now, as a head, I've been banning them for, I don't know, I can't remember, is it 15 or 20
02:20years?
02:20An awful long time I've not allowed them.
02:22It was massively successful for more than a decade plus prior to the pandemic.
02:27I did notice in the last couple of years before I left to become the chief inspector,
02:32it was increasingly more addictive for children to take even that furtive glance down the corridor at their phone.
02:41This follows earlier guidance from the education secretary encouraging phone-free school days.
02:47Some have welcomed the move, while others call for stronger rules.
02:50Schools inspections will also monitor phone policies from April, according to the Department for Education.
02:56There's been incidents that teachers have told me about where children are showing up,
03:01other children, hardcore porn, beheading videos.
03:05They're filming teachers and making TikTok videos about them to ridicule them online.
03:11It is really, really shocking.
03:15And I think for Pat, I didn't realise how harmful the online world really was.
03:22So I think firstly, it's over a six hour break for children off the screens.
03:30As I mentioned before, the children are saying that they're also using the phones a lot less outside of school.
03:36I've seen children get onto a machine and then not go to the task because they're now off onto the
03:42internet,
03:43off onto something else.
03:44So it's about the quality.
03:46Technology is a tool to assist teaching.
03:49It's not a place of teaching.
03:51So the best led teaching, the best led curriculums,
03:53they think very deliberately about how it's going to actually be used
03:56and they deliberately instruct children in how to use it very supportatively.
04:01Earlier in April, Keir Starmer held a meeting with senior bosses of tech firms,
04:07including Meta and TikTok.
04:09During the meeting, he said he expected real world changes from social media companies
04:13in order to protect children a day.
04:16This follows MPs having voted against a proposal to ban under-16s
04:21from using social media for a second time.
04:24Some MPs have committed to keep fighting in favour of the ban.
04:28Yet, some, including the Molly Rose Foundation, an internet safety charity,
04:33advocate for the strengthening of the Online Safety Act rather than an outright ban.
04:39Social media firms have introduced a plethora of safety measures in recent years,
04:44including parental controls in order to limit screen time and filter content.
04:49I want children to live their childhoods.
04:51I don't want them to watch it on a screen.
04:53And it's really pervasive and I equally welcome the consultation on the social media ban.
04:59I think it's a little bit late.
05:01I would have done it sooner.
05:02But the fact that that's now happening, it's going to be evidence-led.
05:05I think it's fantastic.
05:07Separate policies remain in place across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,
05:11where approaches to mobile phones in schools differ.
05:14With the
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