'I'm banning my children from having a smartphone until 16', shadow Education Secretary tells LBC

18 March 2025, 09:32 | Updated: 18 March 2025, 09:40

By Natasha Clark

@NatashaC

The shadow Education Secretary has told LBC she’ll be banning her children from having a smartphone until they’re 16 – but she will let them have a brick phone beforehand.

Laura Trott – who has three children under ten – insisted she’s seen enough evidence to see the harms for children of spending too much time online.

The Tories tried to force a vote on banning phones in schools on Tuesday night in Parliament, but this failed to pass.

They wanted every school to be forced to ditch phones in classrooms – as around one in ten have done.

LBC spoke to the shadow education secretary at Harris Academy Peckham, in south-east London, where students are banned from using phones during the school day.

They have to be in bags and switched off by 8.25, or face having them confiscated by eagle-eyed teachers.

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Ms Trott insisted her three children won’t be getting their hands on a device anytime soon after she’d seen the harms they can do to young people.

She said: “They can get a brick phone when they're 11. I've seen the evidence.

“The evidence is overwhelming of the impact that it has on our young people, and we need to change this.

“Banning smartphones in schools is a first step that will make such a massive difference. It is something which transcends politics.”

One in five children say they’ve had their learning disrupted in class because of phones in schools.

But Labour say they trust heads to make their own decisions on whether to allow them or not.

Ms Trott also said she agreed with calls to “look at” whether to raise the age young people are allowed on social media to 16 – which ministers have said they’ll do.

LBC reporter speaks to a panel of teenagers about their online safety

Smartphones have also led to more ADHD and other symptoms emerging in young adults, along with sleep issues, and problems with attainment, she warned.

And it was a “safeguarding concern” for all pupils – who are being harmed by feeling addicted.

On banning devices for kids trying to learn in the classroom: “This is something that we want for everyone, because this school is doing great stuff with their phone ban.

“But we know that only 11 per cent of schools nationwide have a really strong ban on phones.

“We think it's the right thing to do. We think that people should put politics aside and vote for it.

“It's absolutely wrong that the Education Secretary called it a gimmick.”

It comes after LBC highlighted the concerns of parents and campaigners of kids’ access to online safety in a dedicated day of programming last week.

Ministers have vowed to keep the Online Safety Act – parts of which came into force this week – under review.

They will update the law if needed to keep kids safe online, the Tech Secretary Peter Kyle has promised.

And he vowed that those protections for kids would never be up for debate – in a tariff or trade deal with the United States or in talks with tech firms.