Labour to scrutinise school smartphone bans as pressure grows over impact on teenagers

Exclusive: TV drama Adolescence adds to pressure from MPs for action to help schools tackle impact of social media

Bridget Phillipson is to begin in-depth scrutiny of smartphone bans in schools in England as pressure grows from MPs to act on the effect of social media on teenagers.

The education secretary is to start monitoring a group of schools to understand the effectiveness of the guidance. The education department will also, for the first time, do an in-depth analysis of the national behaviour survey in schools to look at the most successful ways of policing the bans, and the challenges schools are facing.