Mobile phone ban in Edinburgh schools 'by the end of 2026'
A consultation on banning mobile phones in Edinburgh's secondary schools will be launched in January - and education chiefs want a ban in place by the end of the year.
It is expected to be modelled on the pilot scheme which has been running at Portobello and Queensferry High Schools, where pupils have to lock their phones in pouches while they are at school and only get to access them again at the end of the day.
The pilot is said to be working well and the feeling is that the consultation is likely to show widespread support for a similar ban across all the Capital's high schools.
Teacher Emily Borrill, who lobbied the education committee for a ban, said: "Almost every teacher I've spoken to thinks phones are a disaster in schools, and almost every parent as well. I do expect the consultation to go our way. I can't really imagine too many objections to it.
“There will be pupils who object, but I’m told some of the pupils at Portobello are saying 'This is great' and going home and telling their parents they want more restrictions on their phone use at home now because they realise how nice it is to not have to be addicted to it all the time.
"I know that's not going to be the case for every pupil, but I do think this is one of the cases where we have to make decisions on behalf of the children's best interests and a lot of them will see the benefits of it after it has happened."
A ban on phones in Edinburgh primary schools was agreed in September and was due to come into force in November, but has been delayed while an impact assessment is carried out.
Education convener James Dalgleish said: "I'm hoping it will show the ban will benefit young people's wellbeing, concentration and mental health."
He said he expected the primary school ban to be implemented in early 2026.
And, subject to the consultation, he hopes for a city-wide policy in high schools based on the pouch system trialled at Portobello and Queensferry.
"It seems to have worked really well in both schools," he said. "They're constantly doing surveys of the pupils which show that even those who were a little bit hesitant about the policy when it came in, a lot of that hesitancy has dropped, teachers are able to teach and pupils are more focused in learning in the classroom."
The consultation will be on the council's consultation hub, with everyone able to comment, but Cllr Dalgleish said there would also be extra effort to get the views of pupils, teachers and parents, using drop-ins and other events.
"We need to listen to the people who will be affected by it most. Part of the success is going to be the buy-in from young people, from teachers, to start off with. We're going to make every effort to get into schools to speak to as many people as we can."
He said the consultation would last 8-12 weeks and procurement would take 6-9 months and admitted to frustration it could not happen more quickly.
"Unfortunately we're hemmed in by procurement rules. We want to move forward as quickly as possible with this, but there are certain financial obligations we need to go through and there's no way around that.
"I'm really enthusiastic to get this done, as are a lot of parents and teachers and pupils, but we need to get it right and do the process well and from that we will get the success.
"It's my commitment and hope we will have a ban in classrooms in place in 2026."
A pouch system for all high schools across the Capital would cost around £450,000 to establish and up to £20,000 a year to maintain.
Alison Murphy, Edinburgh secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union,said mobile phones in schools were "a huge source of concern and disruption".
She said: "The majority of kids will put them in their bags or keep them out of sight, but we have teachers who are worried about kids who are using phones to record or just taking phones out in the middle of the class and playing music.
"It is definitely a challenge at the moment and there are real concerns around how they're being used in schools and the impact they are having."
She said everyone she had spoken to about the trial at Portobello and Queesnferry was very positive about it.
"Certainly a significant number of teachers will agree an outright ban is easiest. There will be some who would prefer other options, so we do need a consultation, but we certainly need something that supports schools to be able to tackle the issue well."
She said a ban would not solve everything. "You will have kids who break the ban - but it makes things much easier because you have real clarity.
"Making burglary illegal doesn't stop people burgling, but it makes it much more obvious that when someone takes your stuff that they shouldn't be doing it and you're able to respond much more easily."