Member

Amendment 177 does not seek to damage big tech or mobile phone providers; it seeks to protect our children by preventing under-16s from accessing social media. Similarly, we must ban mobile phones in schools; current guidelines are not enough. Teachers, as we have heard, cannot enforce them consistently; legislation is needed to create clear, enforceable rules that support teachers and put children first. The benefit of phone-free schools is well documented, and many have spoken about it. Head teachers repeatedly report that, when phones are removed, hallways grow louder with laughter, instead of there being silence. Lunchtimes become social, not solitary; children talk, play and re-engage with each other. A phone-free policy does not just improve behaviour but helps to restore childhood, as the noble Lord, Lord Hampton, said.