PETITIONRejectedPetition · petition.parliament.uk

Abandon plans for pouches/lockers in schools, instead mandating "brick only"

The government should bring scrutiny to bear on the high profile movement to mandate the storing of smartphones, and, instead, make “brick only” schools a statutory requirement. A review of schools that have banned smartphones from the premises should be conducted, to see such polices in action.

Last fetched 19 May 2026 · petition.parliament.uk

Signatures

signatures

Government response threshold (10,000) · 6/10,000

Debate threshold (100,000) · 6/100,000

Petition progress2 events · Nov 2025 – Jan 2026

06 JAN 2026
Petition rejected
no-action
There are currently no reported Government plans to mandate the storing of smart phones and make "brick only" a statutory requirement for schools. The current non-statutory guidance says that schools may develop their own policies to implement a no phones in schools rule. The guidance suggests the following systems that could be adopted: No mobile phones allowed on the school premises Mobile phones handed in on arrival Mobile phones kept in secure location, which pupils do not access throughout the school day Pupils may keep their phones but they are “never used, seen or heard You can find out more in this House of Commons Library note: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10241/ We could accept a petition calling for the Government to ban schools from storing mobile phones, if that's something that you'd like to see. You may wish to sign this petition: We call on Government to urgently revise the mobile phone in schools guidance: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/726477
26 NOV 2025
Petition created

Background

"Brick only" schools will allow children to transition from primary to secondary without investing in expensive digital devices that are causing immense harm. "Brick only" still allows for emergency communications. Location 'tiles' can be placed in bags.
Pouching smartphones, in contrast, normalises children owning smartphones, is very expensive and locks schools into 3rd party contracts that will be difficult to leave, embedding smartphone ownership long term. Such plans should be abandoned.