Smartphones to be banned from all Irish secondary schools

"We're very conscious of the world in which we live."

Minister Foley is set to write to schools in the coming weeks regarding the new directive, which is backed up by evidence phones ‘disrupt’ learning and contribute to cyber bullying.

A 'keep childhood smartphone-free' initiative was introduced by the Department of Education, which encouraged parents to hold off buying smartphones for their children under 13.

However, Ms Foley is now going one step further and is targeting secondary schools.

Smartphones to be banned from all Irish secondary schools

“I've met with mobile phone providers," the minister said. "I've met with the social media platforms, and we continue to educate both at primary and at post primary, but I am now in a space where I'm looking to introduce a ban on the mobile phones at post primary.

“I think we're very conscious of the world in which we live," she continued.

"All studies – including, for example, the United Nations studies there last year – are telling us that mobile phones interrupt learning in a school environment.

“Obviously, they are a cause of cyber bullying and we know too that the conversation, the integration, the community of conversation that so important in school is very much so interrupted by the fact that students take out their mobile phones at different times.”

Ms Foley said the use of smartphones during class time is "not an issue" in primary school, which is why the department is shifting focus to post-primary education.

The minister originally backed a ban on smartphones during school hours after a group of schools in Greystones voluntarily imposed the rules successfully.

Speaking in November last year, Ms Foley said that she believed Ireland prides itself on having “the gift of the gab” but we can only get that gift if “you engage with other people and you won’t get it if you spend your time with Siri or Alexa.”