Group of 17 London secondary schools join up to go smartphone-free

A recent report found extended screen time has become increasingly normal for teenagers. Photograph: Mixmike/Getty Images

A group of schools in London have announced they will go smartphone-free, in a sign of the growing public concern over phone-based childhoods.

Headteachers at 17 of the 20 state secondary schools in Southwark, south London, have taken the collective action to shift their pupils away from smartphones, in the hope of also addressing the downsides of their use outside the school gates.