Almost half of mums and dads have said they worry mobiles are a distraction and they should be removed from the classroom.
A survey found that 49 per cent of parents want them banned from the classroom.
Nearly a third have also considered ‘dumbing down’ their child’s phone so that they can only be used for calls and text messages, removing distractions found on smartphones.
They also have said that they are concerned about the impact the amount of time their children spend on their phone is affecting their mental health.
In Ireland, politician Peadar Tóibín called for the banning of all smartphones from primary schools in Ireland.
He said: ‘When we see children in class, on school buses, schoolyards and eating their lunch while glued to their smartphones, it is clear that there is a cost to their developing communication skills.
‘We also hear regularly that children’s ability to concentrate at school is reduced when mobile phones and social media sites are pinging the arrival of new messages and likes.
‘In an education sphere where concentration is already under pressure, smartphones are a cost to learning.’
According to the research, the average child now carries £301 of gadgets and parents are set to spend £1.4 billion on electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops for the new school term.
uSwitch spokesman Ernest Doku said: ‘It’s a mark of our always-connected times that half of pupils now have their own smartphone, and the number of gadgets that schoolchildren are carrying into class every day is mind-boggling.
‘It is understandable that parents are concerned about the potential distractions facing their children, but banning phones from schools is not as straightforward as it sounds, especially since technology is an integral part of modern life.
Another survey of 2,000 families with children aged 14 and under found on average they were spending 23 hours a week on smartphones and other gadgets.
That is twice as much time as they spend talking to their parents according to the research by CensusWide.
One dad fed up with his son never answering messages has invented an app that locks children’s phone screens until they respond to parents.
Nick Herbert, 47, dreamed up the app called RespondASAP which hijacks his 15-year-old son Ben’s phone until he replies.
