Teaching primary school pupils with phones 'like being in a casino full of cocaine', council hears

Mobile phones are to be banned in primary schools across Edinburgh, as a teacher described trying to teach with them around as like being in “a casino full of cocaine”.

And a ban on mobile phones in secondary schools will be explored, following a period of consultation and impact assessment.

The primary school ban is set to come at some point from November onwards, giving council officers time to plan how the ban will be applied.

Officers are set to make exemptions available for students who have a medical need to have a smartphone.

Councillors were in agreement at an Education, Children and Families committee meeting that a ban on mobiles in secondary schools was something valuable to pursue.

A consultation is now set to be launched on a ban in secondary schools, with analysis set to start in January 2026 and a report presented to councillors in March of that year.

If all goes to plan, the council will be in a position to ban mobile phones in secondary schools by August of next year.

Education, Children, and Families committee convener and Labour councillor James Dalgleish said: “We have to follow process and procedures and council and consultations and IIAs, and all those wonderful things.

“But I think the potential that we have here to improve the well-being of our pupils is an opportunity.

“I feel like this is a real turning point for improving the quality of education and for pupils, and hopefully, in some respects, assist teachers in managing the classroom.”

Earlier in the meeting, councillors heard a deputation from a parent and teacher group which supported the ban.

One secondary school maths teacher said: “I cannot stress enough how much of a nightmare issue phones are for teaching and learning and behaviour.

“Almost every pupil has a phone in their pocket, in their bag. They can’t fight the neurological compulsion to check their phone to get that dopamine hit.

“As one teacher I know puts it, it’s as if we are trying to teach math in a casino full of cocaine, and then wondering why no-one can understand what we are saying.”

Conservative councillor Chris Cowdy, who put forward the motion calling for a ban, said: “It’s been over a year since the first table of a motion to ban mobile use at school.

“It’s already been delayed twice, so I am very relieved that we are here today. We have got this far, and there does appear to be a significant amount of consensus on the direction of travel.”

Cllr Cowdy, like many other councillors on the committee, said that his view on banning mobile phones in schools had changed over time.

SNP councillor Finlay McFarlane said: “I can’t believe I’m old enough to do it, but back in my day, the phones we had in high school, it was like paper text and polyphonic ring tones.

“And I’ll admit, personally, that my views across this trial have changed. I was quite worried that we were taking a paternalistic approach to a ban and the other implications around that.”

Most councillors supported a compromise position assembled by Cllr Dalgleish, but the Green group pursued a separate amendment.

Earlier in the meeting, council education officer Linda Lees spoke on some results of discussions with students about the ban.

She said many were amicable to it, but that some had concerns, citing the example of students who had bought their own phones rather than being given one being frustrated.