Mobile phones should be banned in schools - Gavin Williamson By Cristina Criddle image copyrightGetty Images Mobile phones should be banned from schools because lockdown has affected children’s “discipline and order,” the education secretary has warned. Gavin Williamson told The Telegraph phones should not be “used or seen during the school day”, though he said schools should make their own policies. Phones can act as a “breeding ground” for cyber-bullying and social media can damage mental health, he added. "It’s now time to put the screens away, especially mobile phones," he wrote. “Outside the classroom, the use of mobile phones distracts from healthy exercise and good old-fashioned play.