PCC unveils new fund backing phone-free schools

📣 PCC launches new fund to support mobile phone-free schools 📵

Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber, has today announced £255,000 of funding to support secondary schools in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes to become mobile phone-free.

Matthew said: “Smartphones have clear benefits, but we’re also increasingly aware of the potential harms they can cause. Schools and the police see firsthand the safeguarding issues brought about by mobile phone use such as online conflict and bullying, peer pressure and exposure to harmful content as well as vulnerability to exploitation.

“These issues all have real world consequences for young people’s safety and wellbeing as well as impacting their behaviour and academic attainment.

“I am pleased to be investing this funding, which has been seized from criminals, back into our community. A full phone free approach in schools aligns with my priority to prevent crime and keep young people safe, while guaranteeing pupils a break from online pressures and the opportunity to learn in an environment free from distraction.”

The funding will support secondary schools to purchase secure mobile phone storage such as lockable pouches, lockers or boxes, that ensure pupils are not able to use their phone during the whole school day but still allows them access when travelling to and from school.

For more information about the fund, which was launched to school leaders at a Phone Free Schools event at the Aureus School in Didcot this morning, click the link below 👇

PCC unveils new fund backing phone-free schools - Thames Valley PCC