SCHOOLS are beginning to bite the bullet by banning smartphones throughout the school day. A forthcoming ban by a large academies trust, which has 42 schools across the country, made national waves at the weekend, and today we report the positive response from a school in Stockton, Our Lady and St Bede Catholic Academy, that has been phone-free for the first days of this term.

Introducing a ban is not simple. Children do need to be able to contact their parents immediately before or after school, particularly if their journeys are not going well.

Therefore some schools, like Eton, are giving children ancient Nokias which can only text so they can keep in touch.

Many secondary schools will find that it is not practical for teachers to take possession every morning of hundreds, even thousands, of smartphones, and so the Stockton academy seems to have found a good solution whereby the devices are locked into a magnetic bag – rendering the phone unusable – when the pupil arrives on site, the pupil carries the bag with them but it is only unlocked as they leave the site.

In Stockton, children are reporting the return of conversations and friendships.

Elsewhere, people are increasingly worried that children are addicted to their phones, so that they cannot concentrate on their studies, and the incessant scrolling through unbalanced social media is damaging their mental health. We can all see this – it is difficult to converse with some members of the younger generation because they never seem to lift their heads from their screens.

Pupils seem to be enjoying the freedom from the tyranny of the phone; it is parents – who apparently need access to their children 24/7 – who are giving the greatest pushback.

Let’s hope they can overcome the urge to bombard their youngsters with messages: to give children some hours where they can concentrate on their work, and on their friends, is really a very big step forward.