The Guardian view on phones in schools: like the devices, this ban is a distraction | Editorial

The education secretary is lagging behind headteachers - and ignoring much bigger problems

That smartphones cause problems in schools is not a novel observation. It is roughly a decade since they became ubiquitous in the UK - along with many other countries - including among teenagers. Since then, day-to-day experience and research have created widespread awareness of the social and behavioural difficulties with which they are linked - despite their huge popularity and undoubted entertainment value.

Most secondary schools have clear policies about mobile phone use. Hardly any permit it during lessons, although rules about break times are variable. So the announcement by the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, that the government is to issue a ban in England, deserves to be viewed as a political stunt rather than a serious contribution to schools policy.