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We asked two experts about whether smartphones could be an issue in schools or if they are being scapegoated in place of a more complex solution.
It should come as no surprise that smartphone usage among young people under the age of 18 is on the rise.
According to figures from Ofcom, by the age of 12, 97pc of children in the UK have a mobile phone.
And in the US, a 2021 survey of 1,306 young people by Common Sense found that 42pc of children had a smartphone by the age of 10, with a rise of 91pc by the age of 14.
However, also on the rise are concerns around how many young people have the potential to suffer mental health struggles in part due to social media and smartphones.
As a result, it is wholly understandable that both parents and educators have posed the question of whether phones should remain in schools, or even if they should be outright banned.
Phones in schools – a double-edged sword?
Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton is a lecturer of cyberpsychology and applied psychology at the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology.
She believes a zero-tolerance ban is not the correct approach.
“I think every teacher or lecturer has had an experience where students are distracted by their phones or other technology in class. However, most understand when it’s appropriate or not to use it.”
This is a fair assessment – after all, mobile phones can also be pocket-sized wonder tools. Students can use their phones in class to do research or answer questions via interactive applications such as Kahoot! or Google Classroom, making them invaluable when used properly.
Karl Hegarty is the co-founder of PhoneAwayBox and has a background as a former school guidance counsellor, teacher and principal.
The PhoneAwayBox is a see-through container that can be attached to a student’s locker and holds their phone while they attend class. Once classes have ended, the student can retrieve their phone.
Hegarty, who is based in Co Kildare, confirmed that he too has seen both the positive and negative effects of students using their phones in school.
He stressed that while he and the team behind PhoneAwayBox are not anti-technology by any means, he emphasised his view that for students to reach their potential, there needs to be less distraction in classrooms.
“We believe it will make them do better, and once students are doing better, results improve, self-esteem increases and schools become better centres for teaching and learning.”
Proposed ban of phones in post-primary schools
The debate of whether phones have a place in schools has even drawn attention from the Irish Government. Back in August, Minister for Education Norma Foley, TD controversially proposed a phone ban for post-primary level students.
A spokesperson for her department told RTÉ that the planned initiative would advise schools to prohibit the use of mobile phones throughout the entire school day, even though some schools currently allow students to access their mobile phones at break times and lunchtime.
“However, going forward, there should be no access to mobile phones until the school day is over,” the spokesperson added.
Still, is such an action going overboard? Fox Hamilton thinks so. “We need to teach young people digital skills in order for them to be able to operate safely online and to function in an increasingly digital world. Removing their phones in schools means that they won’t be learning these skills there.”
While there can be no denying that phones and social media can have a negative impact on others, others may find their phones to be a source of social support, learning and even helpful if they are in distress.
For example, if a student is being bullied in school, they may have friends or family that they are able to contact through their phone to support them through that.
In addition, Fox Hamilton claimed that a number of other studies have found that cyberbullying actually increases in schools with phone bans. “This may be because a more authoritarian atmosphere in a school creates an atmosphere that encourages cyberbullying, rather than a more open, friendly environment which tends to discourage cyberbullying.
“The impacts of a ban on attention in class and grades are again very mixed in the research, with most finding little to no impact.”
Similarly, the announcement that schools in California will be required to restrict phone usage in classrooms by July 2026 was criticised by Fox Hamilton, who said that such a restriction could unintentionally “end up causing more harm than good”.
Hegarty pointed out that banning phones won’t educate students on how to manage their time on their phone. Indeed, his attitude is more ‘face your fear’ rather than total avoidance.
“The values we promote in schools should be aimed at how we want to see our students behave in school and outside of school.”
Last month, the Government announced that it allocated €9m in Budget 2025 to keep students off their phones during school hours through the implementation of mobile phone pouches.
Fox Hamilton said that the idea of spending €9m on specific storage pouches for phones “seems ridiculous in light of the serious needs that schools face at the moment”.
“Where these kinds of pouches have been brought in, kids have already found ways around them, such as using old phones or breaking into them.”
Warning labels?
Given the tight-knit Venn diagram of young people, phones and social media, the idea of social media warning labels could be added to the debate. Think the ‘drink responsibly’ labels on alcoholic drinks or ‘parental advisory’ stickers slapped onto CD cases.
Fox Hamilton said that she feels that there is a lot of “scaremongering” about the impact that phones have on all of us. “Very little of it is based on any solid foundation of research.
“That is not to say that there are no risks to being online, but using social media and smartphones does not inherently mean that you are going to suffer harm,” she added.
Fox Hamilton also raised the dilemma that if we relentlessly focus on the negatives of technology use, particularly for young people, they will lose trust in how much they feel adults understand the technology.
And who knows? It could lead to a scenario similar to the Streisand Effect where the action results in the opposite intended effect and makes young people even more curious and rebellious.
Hegarty differed from Fox Hamilton somewhat in this view. “Yes I think this could help,” he said, “but as I mentioned earlier, the use of mobile phones/digital wellbeing needs to be taught and facilitated [properly] in schools.”
The possibility of interim measures
Some have proposed interim measures, such as temporary bans or even the introduction of devices such as the PhoneAwayBox to resolve the issue.
Fox Hamilton opined: “I think we overstate the issue of phones in schools in the first place.
“We can certainly ban them during class unless they are being used for a learning activity. They should stay in bags or pockets. Many schools have implemented these policies already without too much issue.
“Legislation and expensive pouches are not the answer.”
The issue is unlikely to die down any time soon, but if anything can be learned from discussing this pressing topic, it is this – we should change the questions we are asking.
Rather than pondering a ban, why don’t we ask ourselves two far more substantial questions: why can’t we have an honest conversation about phones in schools without resorting to extremes? And furthermore, how do we foster trust between students and parents/educators?
Like many things in life, the issue at hand is not black or white, but in fact consists of shades of grey.
Once we realise this, then hopefully we can avoid veering to one extreme or the other, and have the debate wander chaotically like a headless chicken… or more accurately, as if we are trapped in a game of Snake on a 2000s Nokia ‘brick’ phone.
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