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If you went to school any time in the last decade, it’s likely that you spent your school break and lunch times (and particularly unengaging lessons) scrolling through social media. You probably took Snapchats of your friends with dog ears superimposed onto them, and heavily filtered shots of your after-school snacks which you posted directly to your Instagram followers from your smartphone, which rarely left your hand.
Nowadays, Gen Alpha is watching day-in-the-life TikToks under desks and, astoundingly, still using Snapchat – but not for long. At least, not for the 63,000 students in Barnet who will be affected by a borough-wide change later this year.
From September 2025, 103 primary schools and 23 secondary schools in the north London borough will bring in measures to limit smartphones’ impact on the school day. Some will completely ban them, while others will adopt measures to curtail their usage.
Smartwatches will also be prohibited, but pupils will be allowed to bring in ‘brick’ phones so they can still be in contact with parents on the way to and from school.
Social media use has risen among children in the last decade, and experts say it’s drastically impacting their mental health as well as their attention span and attainment at school. According to Ofcom, 24 percent of five to seven year olds own a smartphone, and 32 percent access social media without an adult supervising them. Among eight to seventeen year olds, 32 percent have seen something upsetting on social media in the past year, with many reporting they have experienced nasty interactions online.
A Barnet Education & Learning Services spokesperson said: ‘Schools are in a powerful position to change the norm, and a large group of Barnet schools are committed to making our schools smartphone-free.’
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