Latest news with #VictoriaGoodyear
The Independent
28-03-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Build child-safe smartphones rather than impose school bans, experts urge
Smartphones should be treated like cars not cigarettes, with technology built to mitigate harms rather than being banned outright, academics have argued. In a new piece published in the British Medical Journal, five academics who have studied smartphone bans in schools push for more child-friendly technology rather than phones being taken away. It comes as Sir Keir Starmer told MPs at prime minister's questions on Wednesday that a ban on phones in schools was 'completely unnecessary'. I've got teenage children, almost every school bans phones in school. They do it already. We need to concentrate on what is really important here which is getting to the content that children shouldn't be accessing,' he said. Research from Teacher Tapp, an app that surveys thousands of teachers in the UK, found in December 2024 that in 56 per cent of secondary schools children are allowed mobiles on site but are not allowed to take them out of their bags. According to the survey, the majority of teachers at schools where pupils were allowed to keep their phones, rather than hand them in, would prefer if they were banned completely - with 78 per cent of people backing tougher bans. Academics from the University of Birmingham, Harvard, and universities in Brazil and Sweden published a study in February examining the impacts of policies in 30 English secondary schools. The study, co-authored by Dr Victoria Goodyear, found that there was no evidence to suggest restrictive school phone policies impacted the child's use of social media or their mental health. They examined 20 schools where students were not allowed to use phones during recreational periods, and 10 where this was allowed. 'We found in our research that there is an association between the more time that adolescents spend on their phones and on social media, in relation to worsened outcomes. That can be across mental health, anxiety, depression, sleep, physical activity, attainment and disruptive classroom behaviour,' Dr Goodyear said. The academic said a recent evaluation of school phone policies in England found there was no difference in outcomes between adolescents that attended a school with a phone ban and those that didn't. 'If bans alone are not enough, what else do we need to do?' she said. 'We need to equip children for healthy technology use. There are two key ways; firstly an age-appropriate design, and secondly equipping children with digital skills'. In a follow-up article to their study, published on Thursday, the researchers said the evidence about the impact of smartphones on children is 'not clear cut'. They said that so far, despite positive anecdotal data from the implementation of smartphone bans 'we do not have the evidence to establish the types of bans that are effective and what works best for children of different ages'. The professors argued that 'prescribing abstinence from all technologies to protect against harms is unrealistic and potentially detrimental in a society where technology use is a practical necessity and confers various benefits'. They gave the example of sub-Saharan Africa where social media can provide access to essential healthcare services, or in China where social media access can help LGBTQ+ teenagers to find community. They likened smartphones to cars, saying that safety regulations should be put in place to mitigate the potential harms. But they should not be treated like cigarettes, where out-right bans are effective. The UK is now lagging behind Europe on action on smartphones, with Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Norway and others imposing limits on school use or social media for children.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Smartphone bans alone do not give children healthy tech relationship
Banning smartphone and social media access alone fails to equip children for the healthy use of technology in the future, a group of international experts has argued. Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the collection of academics argued there is a lack of evidence that blanket bans helped children and such approaches were 'stop-gap solutions' that 'do little to support children's longer-term healthy engagement with digital spaces across school, home, and other contexts, and their successful transition into adolescence and adulthood in a technology-filled world'. Instead, the experts call for a rights-based approach to technology use, where children are better protected from harm by age-appropriate design and education while using technology to develop skills to help them participate in the modern, digital world. Victoria Goodyear, from the Institute for Mental Health at the University of Birmingham, and colleagues from Harvard, the University of Cambridge, the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, and the University of Sao Paulo said governments and regulators should instead focus on improving legislation designed to ensure children can use phones and social media safely. The intervention comes as debate continues over whether mobile phones should be banned in schools in England. On Wednesday, the chief inspector of Ofsted said smartphones should be banned in schools in England, which followed an exchange between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch on the issue during Prime Minister's Questions. Mrs Badenoch questioned why the Government opposed a Tory amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill to require schools to ban the use of phones. In response, the Prime Minister described the proposal as 'completely unnecessary' as he claimed 'almost every school' already bans phones, and instead said the focus should be on the content children were consuming. Schools in England were given non-statutory guidance under the former Conservative government in February last year intended to stop the use of mobile phones during the school day. In their article, the experts said a recent evaluation of school smartphone policies in England reported that restricted access to phones in school 'was not associated with benefits to adolescent mental health and wellbeing, physical activity and sleep, educational attainment or classroom behaviour'. They added: 'In addition, this study found no evidence of school restrictions being associated with lower levels of overall phone or media use or problematic social media use. 'Technology-free moments and spaces are nevertheless important for children because increased time spent on phones and social media is generally linked with worse physical, mental, and educational outcomes. 'However, approaches that focus on simply restricting access to devices can undermine children's rights to technology design and education that will help them thrive as adults in today's world.' Rather than approaching the issue in the same way as banning people from smoking, the experts said a more 'constructive' approach would be to look at how society has responded to safety concerns around cars. 'In response to increasing injuries and deaths from car crashes, rather than banning cars, society built an ecosystem of product safety regulations for companies (seatbelts, airbags) and consumers (vehicle safety tests, penalties), public infrastructure (traffic lights), and education (licences) to support safer use,' they said.
The Independent
27-03-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Smartphone bans alone do not give children healthy tech relationship
Banning smartphone and social media access alone fails to equip children for the healthy use of technology in the future, a group of international experts has argued. Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the collection of academics argued there is a lack of evidence that blanket bans helped children and such approaches were 'stop-gap solutions' that 'do little to support children's longer-term healthy engagement with digital spaces across school, home, and other contexts, and their successful transition into adolescence and adulthood in a technology-filled world'. Instead, the experts call for a rights-based approach to technology use, where children are better protected from harm by age-appropriate design and education while using technology to develop skills to help them participate in the modern, digital world. Victoria Goodyear, from the Institute for Mental Health at the University of Birmingham, and colleagues from Harvard, the University of Cambridge, the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, and the University of Sao Paulo said governments and regulators should instead focus on improving legislation designed to ensure children can use phones and social media safely. The intervention comes as debate continues over whether mobile phones should be banned in schools in England. On Wednesday, the chief inspector of Ofsted said smartphones should be banned in schools in England, which followed an exchange between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch on the issue during Prime Minister's Questions. Mrs Badenoch questioned why the Government opposed a Tory amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill to require schools to ban the use of phones. In response, the Prime Minister described the proposal as 'completely unnecessary' as he claimed 'almost every school' already bans phones, and instead said the focus should be on the content children were consuming. Schools in England were given non-statutory guidance under the former Conservative government in February last year intended to stop the use of mobile phones during the school day. In their article, the experts said a recent evaluation of school smartphone policies in England reported that restricted access to phones in school 'was not associated with benefits to adolescent mental health and wellbeing, physical activity and sleep, educational attainment or classroom behaviour'. They added: 'In addition, this study found no evidence of school restrictions being associated with lower levels of overall phone or media use or problematic social media use. 'Technology-free moments and spaces are nevertheless important for children because increased time spent on phones and social media is generally linked with worse physical, mental, and educational outcomes. 'However, approaches that focus on simply restricting access to devices can undermine children's rights to technology design and education that will help them thrive as adults in today's world.' Rather than approaching the issue in the same way as banning people from smoking, the experts said a more 'constructive' approach would be to look at how society has responded to safety concerns around cars. 'In response to increasing injuries and deaths from car crashes, rather than banning cars, society built an ecosystem of product safety regulations for companies (seatbelts, airbags) and consumers (vehicle safety tests, penalties), public infrastructure (traffic lights), and education (licences) to support safer use,' they said.
The Independent
05-02-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Landmark study reveals the effect of school phone bans
School phone bans do not improve young people's grades or mental wellbeing, a study has found. The research, by academics at the University of Birmingham, found no difference between students ' academic achievement, sleep or exercise habits between schools with and without restrictive phone policies. The bans also did not cut down the overall time that young people spent using their phones throughout the day, it showed. The study compared 1227 students and 30 different schools. It has since been peer-reviewed and published. 'There is no evidence to support that restrictive school phone policies, in their current forms, have a beneficial effect on adolescents' mental health and wellbeing or related outcomes,' it concluded. However, increased screen time did impact the mental health, classroom behaviour, physical activity and sleep cycles of students overall. Dr Victoria Goodyear, the study's lead author, told the BBC that school phone bans were not an effective way to tackle the negative impacts of overusing phones. 'What we're suggesting is that those bans in isolation are not enough to tackle the negative impacts,' she said. 'We need to do more than just ban phones in schools.' The study called for a more 'holistic' approach to lowering phone use among students. 'This approach does not necessarily preclude restrictive school mobile phone policies,' the study concluded. 'But these policies would be linked with a wider holistic approach to adolescent mobile phone and social media use.' It comes days after the Education Secretary rejected calls to bring in a new law to ban phones in classrooms, as she branded the Conservative party's proposal a 'headline-grabbing gimmick'. Bridget Phillipson said she agreed that mobile phones should not be in lessons, but added the opposition was wrong to say it could only be done by introducing legislation. The Conservative party said last week that it would table an amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill that would require the Government to ban phones in classrooms. Shadow education secretary Laura Trott asked Ms Phillipson whether she would support her party's plans. A government spokesperson said: ' Teachers already have clear guidance to manage phone use effectively in a way that works for their schools. 'Our focus is on keeping young people safe, while also benefiting from the latest technology. By the summer, robust new protections for children will be in force through the Online Safety Act to protect them from harmful content and ensure they have an age-appropriate experience online. 'Alongside getting these laws in place, we are committed to building the evidence base to inform future action to protect young people online. 'More robust evidence is needed to reach clear conclusions on the impact of smartphones on children, which is why we have launched our own research, led by the University of Cambridge, into the impact of social media on children's overall wellbeing.'
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Banning phones in schools does not improve grades or mental health, new study finds
Restricting mobile phones at school does not improve grades or mental wellbeing, a landmark new study has found. The Conservative government put out formal guidance on how to ban mobile phones in schools almost exactly a year ago. It included advice on how to search students and their bags for devices "if necessary". But new evidence from the University of Birmingham has found students' levels of sleep, exercise, academic record, and exercise did not differ between schools with and without phone bans. The study also found restrictive phone policies did not lower the overall time young people spend on their phones each day. The research, which has been peer-reviewed, compared 1,227 students and 30 different secondary schools. It appears to contradict a study from last summer that found schools that effectively ban mobile phones see better GCSE results. "There is no evidence to support that restrictive school phone policies, in their current forms, have a beneficial effect on adolescents' mental health and wellbeing or related outcomes," the study concluded. It did, however, find that increased screen time impacted the mental health of students, as well as their classroom behaviour, physical activity levels and sleep cycles. Dr Victoria Goodyear, the study's lead author, told the BBC that school phone bans were not enough to tackle the negative impacts of mobile phone over-usage. "This approach does not necessarily preclude restrictive school mobile phone policies," the study concluded. "But these policies would be linked with a wider holistic approach to adolescent mobile phone and social media use." Read more: The research comes days after the education secretary branded a Conservative party proposal to ban phones in classrooms a "headline-grabbing gimmick". Bridget Phillipson said she agreed that mobile phones should not be in lessons, but added the opposition was wrong to say it could only be done by introducing legislation.
