Gavin Williamson wants to take away children’s phones and people aren’t happy

Gavin Williamson has unleashed a tirade against technology and encouraged schools to ban mobile phones.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the Education Secretary criticised the presence of phones in the classroom and announced a new government programme to help schools develop stricter behaviour policies.

He said: “While technology has been invaluable in keeping children learning during lockdown and we support its use, it’s now time to put the screens away, especially mobile phones.

“Outside the classroom, the use of mobile phones distracts from healthy exercise and good old-fashioned play. Worse, it acts as a breeding ground for cyberbullying, and the inappropriate use of social media sites.

“I firmly believe that mobile phones should not be used or seen during the school day.”

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His policy comes after he was accused of leading a series of shambles over the last year. As Education Secretary, he presided over a system that downgraded student’s A-level results last year, and failed to deliver a sufficient number of laptops for school children during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, he was also criticised for voting against free school meals for students during the school holidays,

Now, he is being thoroughly lambasted for his Ludditism and claims that children need more discipline upon their return to the classroom.

Labour MP Rachel Hopkins said:

While her colleague Angela Rayner added:

Another user pointed out the dangers of leaving children without the means to contact people:

And Labour MP Jess Phillips said that mobile phones were critical for her constituents during the pandemic.

Someone should probably send Gav a telegram to let him know his policy isn’t going down well...