Smartphone Ban
WORKSHEET
Vocabulary
Wellbeing
The state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy.Implement
To put a decision or plan into effect.Addiction
A compulsive need to use or do something, often unhealthy.Confiscate
To take something away as a form of punishment.Adolescence
The transitional stage between childhood and adulthood.Nurture
To care for and encourage the growth or development of someone.Influence
The ability to affect or change someone’s behavior or decisions.Distraction
Something that takes attention away from what you are doing.Stricter
Enforcing rules more severely.Mental health
A person's emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing.
Grammar Points
Present Continuous Tense
Used to describe ongoing actions (e.g., "Head teachers are taking action").Present Perfect Tense
Used to describe past actions with present relevance (e.g., "Concerns have been growing for some time").First Conditional
Used to express real or likely conditions and their results (e.g., "If we can get that right, we can transform young people's lives").Comparatives
Used to compare two things (e.g., "The punishment for a smartphone will be more severe than for a basic phone").Modals (should, can, might)
Used to express ability, recommendation, or possibility (e.g., "We should discourage smartphone ownership").Passive Voice
Used to focus on the action rather than who performs it (e.g., "Smartphones will be confiscated for at least a week").
Activities
Activity 1
Modals of Advice
Instructions
Use the correct modal verb (should, can, might) to complete each sentence.
Students ______ focus on their studies rather than their phones.
Smartphones ______ cause anxiety and depression in young people.
Parents ______ work with schools to create stricter phone policies.
Activity 2
Agree or Disagree
Instructions
Read each statement below and decide whether you agree or disagree. Explain your reasoning in 1-2 sentences.
Schools should completely ban smartphones for all students.
Smartphones are a major cause of mental health problems among young people.
Parents should be responsible for managing their children’s screen time, not schools.
Students need smartphones in school for educational purposes.
Stricter phone policies in schools will improve students’ focus.
Activity 3
Opinion Poll
Instructions
Work in small groups. Discuss each question below and choose the option that best represents your group’s opinion. Be prepared to explain your choice to the class.
Should schools have different rules for smartphones and basic phones?
a) Yes, because smartphones are more distracting.
b) No, all phones should be treated the same.
c) It depends on the school environment.How long should schools confiscate phones when students break the rules?
a) For the rest of the school day.
b) For one week.
c) Until parents come to collect them.What should schools do to prevent students from using phones secretly?
a) Increase punishments.
b) Encourage students to report misuse.
c) Educate students about the reasons behind the rules.
Questions
What is the punishment for having a smartphone in school?
Why is the punishment for a smartphone more severe than for a basic phone?
How can schools and families work together to reduce smartphone addiction?
TRANSCRIPT
Smartphone Ban
NARRATOR:
Concerns over the effects of mobile phones on young people's wellbeing have been growing for some time. Head teachers in Southwark, London are taking action. To combat mental health concerns and screen time addiction, a group of secondary schools have decided to implement stricter smartphone rules.
SOUNDBITE - Mike Baxter:
“We have to have policies that are discouraging young people from spending hours of their lives, of their childhood, on these social media devices. It's hugely problematic. So it's not about in schools, it's about what schools can do with their families to discourage the smartphone ownership outside of school. If we can get that right, we can transform young people's lives for the better.”
NARRATOR:
The City of London Academy, like many schools, already has a no mobile phone policy. However, the stricter rules mean the punishment for having a smartphone will be more severe than for a basic phone, which is a mobile with no Wi-Fi or social apps. If a student is seen with a smartphone, it will be confiscated for at least a week or until a parent collects it. The punishment for a basic phone is only until the end of the school day.
SOUNDBITE - Mike Baxter:
“I believe the children until they are in year 10 doing the GCs, should not have access to that sort of technology for loads of reasons. They're going through their childhood, they're going through adolescence. During that time we do not want to give them access to social media and all the ills of that and really should be focused on the love and nurture from the family and the education from their school.
NARRATOR:
Head teachers from several secondary schools in Southwark have agreed on this policy, which will affect more than 13,000 students. But what do the students think?
SOUNDBITE - Vox Pop 1:
“I think it's very good because it mostly influences us, like, to study instead of us being, like, distracted, which I think we might regret in the future if we're distracted with our phones in school.”
SOUNDBITE - Vox Pop 2:
“Even though children know that, like, if they are caught with their smartphone, they won't get back until the end of the week, even like this, they'll take the risk because of their addiction and they'll, like, go under their, they'll go on their phones, like under the table or in their bags.”
SOUNDBITE - Vox Pop 3:
“I feel like smartphones could be used for more harmful purposes. They are sort of like the root cause for conditions such as anxiety and depression.”
NARRATOR:
With increasing discussions about the negative impact of too much smartphone use on young minds, more parents might ask their children's schools to adopt similar measures.