Sheffield City Council has rejected calls for a blanket ban on smartphones for children in the city’s schools. The decision leaves individual schools and academy trusts to set their own rules, reflecting the council’s view that local circumstances and pupils’ needs vary.

Councillors acknowledged concerns that phone use can harm learning and wellbeing, including through distraction, bullying and mental-health pressures. Sheffield has around 180 education settings, spanning nursery to post-16 provision, and the council said policies already range from complete bans to controlled acceptable-use arrangements; national guidance likewise allows school leaders to decide how restrictions work.