Parents and Public Agree: No Smartphones for Primary School Aged Children, Ipsos Survey Finds

A new Ipsos survey reveals strong public support for stricter policies around smartphones in schools. The research also suggests a widespread belief that younger children are not equipped to handle the responsibilities and potential downsides that come with having their own smartphones.

The right age to give children a phone: 

Both the public and those with children at home feel that 11-12 years old is the most appropriate age for a child to be given a smartphone. A quarter (25%) of parents with children aged 11-12 years old have given a smartphone to their children. However, a similar proportion (26%) have not.

School policies: 

There is broad support for a variety of policies designed to minimise the use of smartphones in schools: 

• Seven out of ten (71%) Britons back having students deposit their phones in a container during class time.
• Nearly half (48%) of Britons support banning mobile phones in school buildings entirely. 
• Just over four in ten (42%) Britons believe that students should only be allowed to bring mobile phones that aren’t smartphones into school buildings.

However, when asked about what measures parents have considered doing regarding their own children: 

• Just two in ten (22%) have told their child(ren) not to bring their smartphone to school. 
• 14% have confiscated their child(ren)’s smartphone to prevent them from bringing it to school. 
• 13% have given their child(ren) a mobile phone that isn’t a smartphone to bring to school. 
• A majority of parents (55%) say that their child's school does not currently have a full smartphone ban in place.

Dr Jessica Ozan, UK Head of Education, Children, and Families Policy Research at Ipsos, said:

Our new research shows that the British public broadly supports the introduction of tighter restrictions on smartphone use in schools. There is broad consensus that 11 or 12 is about the right age for children to be given a smartphone, among both parents and the wider public. However, there is also a strong desire to see schools implement policies that limit their use during the school day, with the ultimate aim of minimising disruption to lessons.

Technical note: 

• Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 2,175 adults aged 18-75 in GB, including 712 who have a child in their household. Interviews were conducted between 25th-27th September 2024.  
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.