Smartphones: Headteacher says use in classroom 'most serious issue facing schools'

It's a problem one headteacher has described as the "most serious issue facing schools in a generation". Smartphones in classrooms are a serious problem, from teachers dealing with disruption they cause to the effects of social media on a young generation, with one mother saying her child's "obsession" led to self-harm. Some schools are now talking about voluntary charters, where parents pledge not to give their children smartphones, while the education minister has backed a similar campaign. But between the possibility of phone pouches and social media bans elsewhere in the world, why is this such a serious problem? And what is being done about it in Northern Ireland? Hollybush Primary School in Londonderry has introduced a smartphone charter where parents voluntarily enter into a written agreement not to buy their child a device until after they finish primary seven. It was acting principal Feargal Friel who described their use by children as school's most serious issue in years. He said he was prompted to take action after a parent described feeling they had effectively "lost their child" to a smartphone. Friel has been working in education for 32 years and believes smartphones