'The most serious issue for schools': What's being done about smartphones in class?

It's a problem one headteacher has described as the "most serious issue facing schools in a generation".

Smartphones in classrooms are a serious problem, from teachers dealing with disruption they cause to the effects of social media on a young generation, with one mother saying her child's "obsession" led to self-harm.

Some schools are now talking about voluntary charters, where parents pledge not to give their children smartphones, while the education minister has backed a similar campaign.

But between the possibility of phone pouches and social media bans elsewhere in the world, why is this such a serious problem? And what is being done about it in Northern Ireland?

Hollybush Primary School in Londonderry has introduced a smartphone charter where parents voluntarily enter into a written agreement not to buy their child a device until after they finish primary seven.

It was acting principal Fergal Friel who described their use by children as school's most serous issue in years.

He said he was prompted to take action after a parent described feeling they had effectively "lost their child" to a smartphone.

Friel has been working in education for 32 years and believes smartphones pose the biggest challenges to education in his professional memory.

"This is a home issue too. Schools have to be careful about not telling parents what to do but we can encourage them."

Almost all parents whose children attend the school - 97% - have now agreed not to buy them a smartphone until they reach second-level education.

He said up to 35 primary schools in Derry alone are also in the process of introducing similar charters.

A recent Education Select Committee report revealed that one in four children now used their phones in a manner resembling behavioural addiction.

'Beginning of end of innocence'

That behaviour addiction was observed by one mother, who told BBC News NI ofhow her daughter, now 15, developed an "obsession" with her smartphone and social media.

It was this, she believes, that "played a big part" in her going on to self-harm.

"It was the beginning of the end of her innocence," said the woman, whose name has been withheld to protect her daughter's identity.

"She was talking to a lot of strangers online, not interested in real-life friends anymore, started to refuse going to school, we had issues with self-harm.

"Her life was her phone really, she barely came out of her room for a few years."

The woman said things came to a head during the Coronavirus pandemic when people were limited in the contact they were allowed to have with each other.

"She became reliant on her phone, that was her life at that young age.

"She was definitely following people who were making out that this (self-harm) was a trend to jump on.

"When she wasn't on her phone for, like a couple of days or something, it was like she was back to herself, but in the in-between time, it was like going through withdrawal."

She said her daughter has managed to "come out the other end" as she approaches 16.

But the woman said she has learned hard lessons and will not allow her two other younger children to have a smartphone until they are older.

Northern Ireland's Department of Education guidance recommends that mobile phones should not "in normal circumstances" be brought into primary schools.

What happens in the rest of the world?

The government acted after becoming concerned by the growing numbers of children being subjected to cyberbullying, grooming, misogynistic and violent material as well as content promoting eating disorders and suicide.

In the Republic of Ireland, schools are required to implement a policy to ban the use of and access to, personal mobile phones by pupils in all recognised schools for the duration of the school day.

However, the Ombudsman for Children's Office has said blanket bans on phones in schools are not in the best interest of children.

Paediatrician Dr Claire Sinton, from the campaign group Smartphone-free Childhood, said there is growing evidence of the serious harm that over-reliance on devices can have on children.

Apart from the dangers of some online content, she said it could have implications for the way they interact with other people, affect their speech and language development and, in some cases, lead to addictive behaviour.

But she is particularly concerned about online grooming.

"We are offering a worldwide web full of paedophiles access to our children," she said.

"Smartphones also mean explicit, violent and extreme content is only ever a few clicks away, often served up by the algorithms when kids aren't even looking for it.

"Once children see these things, they can never be unseen."

Can school smartphone charters help?

Nora Allen, who has two children at Hollybush Primary, hopes so.

"Losing your child to a device is one of my biggest fears," she said.

"My children don't have phones but I dread the day they would be rather be on the phone in their bedroom instead of talking and playing with me.

"We all need to come together as parents and work with schools to get on top of the issue."