By Andrea Lambrou

Copyright dailyrecord

Joani Reid MP insists her campaign to banish smartphones from South Lanarkshire schools will continue despite the education committee’s refusal to back a blanket ban. The East Kilbride and Strathaven Labour MP had urged councillors to reject a report to the committee that effectively left the decision up to individual schools. She stated if the report had been rejected, the way would have been left open for the council to come back with a firmer policy of vetoing phones being brought into schools. But the local authority highlighted that all schools already have the authority to implement a complete ban on mobile phones – if they and their communities wish to do so. Lyndsay McRoberts, Executive Director of Education Resources at South Lanarkshire Council, said previously: “To support schools in introducing or reviewing their approach in a planned and structured way, the council has developed a comprehensive framework guiding the creation or update of mobile-device policies.” In a debate at the council’s education committee on Tuesday, September 9, SNP councillor Katy Loudon blasted the MP’s proposal as a “draconian” approach and attacked her call to restrict phone use to less capable ‘feature phones’ in those cases where a pupil needed a telephone connection, branding the suggestion “bizarre”. Praising the committee report, Ms Loudon added that she was “more than bemused” to receive Reid’s letter urging the committee to rethink their policy and give schools the power and authority to ban smartphones altogether. She said: “When we’ve got thousands of high school pupils across South Lanarkshire who’ve just lost their school transport, I think it’s entirely reasonable that parents have the expectation that pupils will be able to have their phone in their bag to keep in touch.” Supporting the decision, Labour councillor Eileen Logan said it was right that the decision was accepted, adding that a “very thorough process” was carried out by council officers. She reiterated: “Each school can, if they choose, if whatever they are doing just doesn’t fit the bill, they can tweak it and do whatever they think is necessary. “People are entitled to put their views forward, but we’re accepting this and I have great faith in all our schools and all our head teachers and all our staff and the pupils and parents.” But Reid insisted schools “need to go further” to recognise the damage they are doing to children’s lives by exposing them to addictive and dangerous social media from an early age. She said: “Limiting that exposure by keeping smartphones out of schools would be a concrete step to protect our kids. “The SNP government could lead here but has refused. Scottish Labour is committed to getting phones out of the classroom and that will be a big issue in next May’s elections for the Scottish Parliament. “We are facing an epidemic of knife crime and anti-social behaviour, and a mental health crisis amongst our children and there is no doubt over-exposure to social media is a factor.” Ms Reid is campaigning for a complete ban of smartphones in schools to protect children from the negative impact of social media. The Labour politician has demanded that the Scottish and UK governments act now to protect children from cyberbullying, social anxiety, depression and exposure to content that is not age appropriate. She is urging the Scottish Government to implement a complete ban on phones in schools and wants the UK Government to toughen the law to ensure that websites hosting explicit or violent material are blocked unless they implement effective age verification and moderation. Ms Reid added: “Social media via smartphones is how predators target our children for sexual and mental abuse.” And she added: “Children do not need smartphones. Some children do need to have access to a phone, but feature phones offer all the essential connectivity they require without the risks that come from social media apps. “Scottish Labour’s policy on this is clear. A Labour-led Scottish government will banish smartphones from class and that is another very good reason to back Scottish Labour next May.” *Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here . And did you know Lanarkshire Live is on Facebook ? Head on over and give us a like and share!