From September 103 local primary schools will sign up to a campaign group’s call for smartphones to be banned for pupils, reports Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

A smartphone (credit Kelvinsong via Wikimedia) and (inset) Dan Tomlinson MP (credit parliament.uk)

More than 100 schools across Barnet will go ‘smartphone-free’ from September, in a bid to help the borough’s young people “learn, socialise and grow, free from addictive algorithms”.

From September, 103 of the borough’s primary schools will not allow smartphones to be brought in, and 23 secondary schools will commit to working towards removing smartphones entirely from the school day.

According to the BBC, the policy is a joint effort supported by the Smartphone Free Childhood (SFC) movement, school leaders, Barnet Council’s public health service and Chipping Barnet’s Labour MP Dan Tomlinson.

SFC has said that from this year, all new year seven students in the North London borough will be prohibited from bringing smartphones to school up to year eleven. It will mean, they added, that more than 63,000 state-educated children across Barnet will benefit from a seven-hour window in the day when they can “learn, socialise and grow, free from addictive algorithms”.

The group’s regional leader for North London, Nova Eden, said: “There is a lot of evidence to show there is a direct correlation and causative link between the use of smartphones and social media in young children and the rise in cases of depression, anxiety and self-harm.

“We really want children to be free from the dangers of smartphones and social media and to enjoy a play-based childhood, which is full of healthy development – away from devices and screens.”

Tomlinson, who was elected in July as MP for Chipping Barnet, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The use of smartphones by schoolchildren is an unnecessary distraction from education and a huge risk to their mental health and wellbeing.

“I said in my election campaign that I would work with local teachers and parents to help protect young people from the harms of smartphones and social media […] I’m grateful to Smartphone Free Childhood and educators across Barnet for their work to prioritise children’s safety.”

A spokesperson for London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said his team will “take note” of how the policy plays out in the borough.

She said: “The importance of education cannot be overstated and ensuring young Londoners have the best possible opportunities to succeed is a top priority for the mayor as he continues to build a better London for everyone.

“It is for local authorities, parents and schools to make decisions around smartphone usage, and we will be interested to see how the initiative in Barnet works in practice and take note of any findings.”

The running total of schools in North London that are now implementing or working towards becoming smartphone-free is 250, SFC said.

The policy in Barnet also follows a similar announcement by Ealing Council last month, in which more than 70 primary schools in the borough pledged to go smartphone-free.

A spokesperson for Barnet Education and Learning Services – a company wholly owned by the council – said: “Smartphone Free Childhood Barnet is a schools-led initiative. We have supported a borough-wide letter to go out to parents of up to 63,000 school pupils to make Barnet schools smartphone-free by September 2025.

“Schools are in a powerful position to change the norm, and a large group of Barnet schools are committed to making our schools smartphone-free. From September 2025, a majority of secondary schools have already made the decision that the new cohorts of secondary school children (year seven pupils) will not be permitted to bring smartphones or smartwatches into school.

“Research shows that children aged 11-15 are most vulnerable to negative influences from social media and internet access via smartphones. We encourage parents to delay giving smartphones to children until at least age 14 and access to social media until age 16.”

The initiative has also been backed by Anne Clarke, the London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden who is also a local councillor. She said it “will make it harder for children to access inappropriate content through the school day and restrict the draw of social media”.

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