Half of parents want mobiles banned in schools
About 49% of parents in the UK would like their child’s school to ban mobile phones, according to a survey conducted by Opinium for price comparison service uSwitch.
Almost 13% of the survey participants said that their child’s school had already taken that action.
Over 1,000 people participated in the survey, which also found that the average value of the mobile devices that children take to school was £301.
The survey also indicated that the average cost of the devices that children were taking to school was increasing.
Applying the survey results to the entire population of students in UK school, uSwitch estimated that the value of all devices that students will take to school in 2019 will hit £2.3bn.
In addition, 43% of children now use a newer smartphone model than their parents, and adults are now spending an estimated £13bn annually on mobile phone charges incurred by their children.
Ernest Doku, a mobiles expert at uSwitch, said that it was ‘understandable’ that parents were worried that mobile devices in schools were distracting their children but that instituting a ban on the devices was not the best way to solve the perceived problem.
He noted that the children would most likely use a wide range of mobile devices when they entered the workforce and that their school was an appropriate and safe place for them to learn how to use technology.
Doku added that many parents wanted the peace of mind provided by mobile devices that permitted them to contact their children quickly in case of an emergency and to determine where they were if they did not return home from school at the normal time.