We Call on the Scottish Government to Legislate for Smartphone-Free Schools
Kids For Now has been pressuring the Education Secretary since 2023. We are hosting a Roundtable with Smartphone Free Childhood at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 5th November 2025, sponsored by Pam Gosal MBE MSP, aimed at persuading MSPs to legislate for smartphone-free schools in Scotland. Our Keynote Speaker is Nova Eden with guests from a range of organisations joined by the voices of parents and young people.
Petition by Kids For Now/Laura Mysak, 17th July 2023
Sign the petition at change.org
I am a parent of two school age children in Scotland and have been campaigning my kids' local school, appealing to them to consider banning the use of smartphones during the school day.
I contacted the Scottish Government to ask if they could provide guidance to headteachers to give them the authority to impose bans.
I was shocked when the response came back that the Scottish Government cannot and will not do this and it is up to individual schools to decide what to do.
I believe that individual headteachers are finding it difficult to consider mobile phone bans because the devices are becoming entrenched in their schools' infrastructures, being used for research, online educational games, connections with school systems for homework etc.
However, there is growing concern around childrens' attainment in Scotland and I believe the use of smartphones in schools could be partly responsible.
There have been numerous studies done on the effects of smartphone use on children's brains and yet, in Scotland, there doesn't seem to be the push from the government to discourage it's use by children and in schools.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth needs to listen to the research that has been conducted globally on the detrimental effects of smartphone use in children and actively discourage its use.
She can do this by supporting educational establishments in their decisions to ban the use of smartphones. She can help parents with the decision of whether to buy their child a smartphone by actively discouraging it in the form of campaigns.
If she doesn't help, our childrens' attainment will fall and their mental health will suffer.
We need our government to step up and take the lead on this critical issue for the sake of our children. Please sign.
Make Primary Schools Internet-Free: All Homework and Classwork Offline
As a parent of two young children, I am deeply troubled by the increasing use of the internet in our primary schools. My 7-year-old and 10-year-old are exposed to the internet during school hours, where instead of focusing on their studies, they are distracted by online games, scrolling and sending unnecessary emails. Teachers use YouTube videos for teaching that come with advertisements. The gamification of online schoolwork and homework distorts the intrinsic value of learning through rewards and gratification and incentivises screentime.
The digital platforms require our children to agree to cookies and data collection practices they do not fully understand. This raises serious concerns about their digital rights and personal data security.
Studies have shown that excessive screen time can negatively impact children's cognitive development (American Academy of Pediatrics). Additionally, research indicates that traditional teaching methods still play a crucial role in fostering creativity and critical thinking skills (National Education Association).
We want our children to have an education that prioritizes their well-being over convenience or technological trends. We urge educational authorities to reconsider the extensive use of internet in primary school classrooms and homework assignments.
Please sign this petition to reduce internet use in primary education.
The petition will support letters to local education authorities and our devolved governments.
Schools: Stop Posting my Kids on Public Social Media!
Sign the petition here.
Schools are competing with each other publicly on social media and children are paying the price. Teachers are compelled to photograph children daily to share school activities on social media platforms such as X, formerly Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. While this may be convenient and nice for parents to see pictures of their children, it puts children at risk and sends the wrong message about over-sharing.
Asking for parental consent is not enough. Whether or not parents provide consent the process of continually photographing children at school normalises a culture of sharing publicly and doesn’t set an example of good digital habits. We don't need to share everything.
Sharing photos of school children publicly on social media is of no benefit to children and disregards their digital rights. Primary school children are not old enough to legally use social media or fully understand the implications of having their images posted.
If they have to share, schools should use alternative, secure, closed groups at no cost to families. Local authorities should provide this service at no cost, or else stop sharing.
Action is needed at government level because nearly all schools seem to do this in competition with each other. Lets end this now so that kids can focus on learning and being present rather than living their lives through social media from a young age.
