Smartphone policies in English secondary schools take up a huge amount of staff time. On average, schools spend more than 100 hours each week enforcing phone rules, a study by Birmingham University shows. Teachers, assistants, caretakers, and receptionists all help manage pupils’ smartphone use. The research, published in the British Medical Journal, found that schools with strict phone rules spend 102 hours on enforcement. But schools with more lenient rules spend even more—108 hours weekly. This workload equals more than three full-time staff members just to police phones. The government recently advised schools to be phone-free, even during breaks. The schools watchdog Ofsted will check how well schools follow this rule. The NASUWT teaching union wants the government to make it a law to lock away phones all day. Professor Victoria Goodyear from Birmingham University said, “School phone policies, whether permissive or restrictive, are a huge drain on a school to enforce.” She added that this takes time away from other activities like pastoral support and extracurricular programs. Professor Miranda Pallan noted, “It is unknown how a statutory ban may impact on the staff burden of dealing with phones.” She explained that different ways of enforcing a ban might affect staff time differently. Even with a ban, some phone use will happen, needing staff action. Data shows 90% of secondary schools have phone rules, but over half of pupils say phones are used without permission during lessons. NASUWT leader Matt Wrack said, “Schools cannot be expected to manage this alone while the government offers no meaningful support.” Sarah Hannafin from the NAHT union hopes that as phone bans become common, staff will spend less time enforcing rules. Pepe Di’Iasio of the Association of School and College Leaders wants funding for safe phone storage like lockers. The Department for Education said, “Mobile phones have no place in classrooms. Without the distraction, children learn better and teachers can teach.” They added their guidance helps schools make phone-free policies work without overloading staff.