Friday briefing: Has the campaign to get smartphones out of schools reached a tipping point?
In today’s newsletter: Momentum is growing for stricter smartphone rules for children, as schools, parents, and the Children’s Commissioner push for bans amid rising concernsGood morning. If your child is using their smartphone at school, they are very likely to be breaking the rules. That is the conclusion of a new report from the Children’s Commissioner, Rachel de Souza, which says that 90% of secondaries and almost 100% of primaries in England have policies in place limiting use of mobile phones in school hours, with many of them requiring children to leave their devices at home or hand them over when they arrive.Those figures, the most robust evidence yet on how schools handle the issue, might be seen as part of a broader pattern: where once there was little but resignation to the ubiquity of smartphones, there are growing signs of a fightback. Today’s newsletter is about the evidence of a shift in how we treat smartphones in childhood – and how it happened much more gradually than it might appear. Here are the headlines.Trump tariffs | After their initial rally in response to Donald Trump’s shock retreat on tariffs, US stocks fell again on Thursday. The sell-off deepened after a White House clarification noted that total tariffs on China had been raised by 145% since Trump took office.Women’s health | More than a quarter of women in England are living with a serious reproductive health issue, according to the largest survey of its kind, and experts say “systemic, operational, structural and cultural issues” prevent women from accessing care.UK Politics | Nigel Farage has rebuffed a suggestion from Kemi Badenoch that Conservative and Reform UK councillors could form coalitions in town halls after the local elections. The Reform leader said his party had “no intention” of forming coalitions with the Tories at any level after 1 May.US news | A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York on Thursday, killing all six people onboard, including the pilot and a family of Spanish tourists with three children. The sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed upside down into the Hudson River.Peerages | Michael Gove is among those to be awarded a peerage in Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours list. The veteran Conservative politician and editor of the Spectator, who retired as an MP at the last election, is understood to be on the list due to be published as soon as Friday. Continue reading...
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In today’s newsletter: Momentum is growing for stricter smartphone rules for children, as schools, parents, and the Children’s Commissioner push for bans amid rising concerns
Good morning. If your child is using their smartphone at school, they are very likely to be breaking the rules. That is the conclusion of a new report from the Children’s Commissioner, Rachel de Souza, which says that 90% of secondaries and almost 100% of primaries in England have policies in place limiting use of mobile phones in school hours, with many of them requiring children to leave their devices at home or hand them over when they arrive.
Those figures, the most robust evidence yet on how schools handle the issue, might be seen as part of a broader pattern: where once there was little but resignation to the ubiquity of smartphones, there are growing signs of a fightback. Today’s newsletter is about the evidence of a shift in how we treat smartphones in childhood – and how it happened much more gradually than it might appear. Here are the headlines.
Trump tariffs | After their initial rally in response to Donald Trump’s shock retreat on tariffs, US stocks fell again on Thursday. The sell-off deepened after a White House clarification noted that total tariffs on China had been raised by 145% since Trump took office.
Women’s health | More than a quarter of women in England are living with a serious reproductive health issue, according to the largest survey of its kind, and experts say “systemic, operational, structural and cultural issues” prevent women from accessing care.
UK Politics | Nigel Farage has rebuffed a suggestion from Kemi Badenoch that Conservative and Reform UK councillors could form coalitions in town halls after the local elections. The Reform leader said his party had “no intention” of forming coalitions with the Tories at any level after 1 May.
US news | A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York on Thursday, killing all six people onboard, including the pilot and a family of Spanish tourists with three children. The sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed upside down into the Hudson River.
Peerages | Michael Gove is among those to be awarded a peerage in Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours list. The veteran Conservative politician and editor of the Spectator, who retired as an MP at the last election, is understood to be on the list due to be published as soon as Friday. Continue reading...
