Edinburgh high schools ban mobile phones in Scottish first
Portobello High School and Queensferry High School are the first secondary schools in Scotland to completely ban the use of mobile phones amongst pupils.
The ban aims to reduce distractions and improve pupil mental health, as well as teach screen-time management and encourage face-to-face interaction.
All pupils from S1 to S6 will have their phones locked in Yondr pouches during the school day.
Portobello High School's ban will come into action this Wednesday, with Queensferry High School following suit on May 14
Councillor Joan Griffiths, the education, children and families convener said: 'We hope this new policy will increase focus on learning, reduce classroom distractions and improve wellbeing.'
She continued: 'Mobile phones in classroom settings are increasingly competing with the teachers for learners' attention and limiting access to mobile phones during the school day is only a positive for our young people.
'The new pouches provide an innovative way for our young people to have distance from their devices while having the reassurance that they are still in their possession.'
Parents and carers met in a focus group over a six-month period to discuss a plan, in which 86% of parents and carers of Portobello High School pupils supported the scheme.
Research from the OECD discovered 60% of pupils were distracted when a classmate was using a phone.
Another related study found that pupils take 20 minutes to refocus on class material after engaging in a non-academic distraction.
Other schools across the UK have either begun banning mobile phones or have completely phased them out.
Stanway School in Colchester had a group of Year 8 (S2) students hand over their phones for three weeks.
The Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT) also began phasing out phone access for its 35,000 pupils.
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