Smartphones at Harrogate High School: parents’ perspective

Grace Cox, Izzy Gordon and Mikayla Diaram are year 10 pupils at Harrogate High School. They recently spent a week with the Stray Ferret on work experience learning how to be a journalist.

We asked them to look at the topic of whether mobile phones should be allowed in schools - a subject that is rarely out of the headlines.

This story, written by Mikayla, is about how parents feel about phones in school and is the third in a three-part series. Yesterday, Grace wrote about the opinions of two teachers and Izzy spoke to a group of pupils.

This series of articles is free to read. For access to all our content, please subscribe by clicking here. 

Parents of pupils at Harrogate High School have shared their views on using phones during the school day.

The topic has been at the centre of national discussion for months now, so I spoke to some parents to get their opinions first-hand.

Phones are not permitted at any time during the school day at Harrogate High School – including break and lunch times – and are confiscated if pupils are caught using them.

However, pupils’ timetables and homework are stored on an app on their digital devices.

My parents, Owen and Anilla Diaram, believe pupils should be allowed their phones in case of an emergency or a change in travel arrangements, such as delays caused by an expected road closure.

However, they both said phones should not be permitted during lesson time as they would be a distraction.

My mum said: 

Katie Gordon, whose two children are pupils at the school, also felt having a phone in school is important for children’s wellbeing: 

It became clear that some people feel safer having a phone on them at school in case of an emergency, but others feel the negative impacts of having a phone at school, such as being distracted from work, override this. 

How did I find my experience asking questions and working as a journalist? 

It's been such a pleasure to be at the Stray Ferret for work experience. It was so exciting! 

Through the experience I learnt more about how to advance my writing skills. 

I also got to see real journalism in action both in the office and during a trip to Harrogate Magistrates Court, when we watched a crime article come together in real time. That was a really interesting experience. Thank you.

For context...

The Stray Ferret would like to thank Grace, Izzy and Mikayla for their hard work and dedication to this project, and Harrogate High School for partnering with us. 

If you are interested in this topic, you can find recent updates in the political landscape below:

• Sir Keir Starmer was urged to “U-turn” and support proposals to ensure all schools in England enforce a mobile phone ban in March this year, as reported by The Independent. 

• The Independent also reported Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, questioned why Labour opposed a Tory amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to require schools to ban the use of mobile phones during the school day. The Prime Minister described the proposal as "completely unnecessary". 

• Data collected by the Children's Commissioner revealed 90% of secondary schools and 99.8% of primary schools already have policies in place that stop the use of mobile phones during the school day. However, according to the Children's Commissioner, online safety was among the most cited issue of concern for school leaders for children in their communities, second to mental health services.  

The girls' findings prove phone use in school is a divisive topic, but whether mandating a ban would provide clarity to pupils, teachers and parents remains to be seen.