The United Nations is calling for a global ban on students having mobile phones in schools

A United Nations report has called for mobile phones to be banned from schools around the world.

UNESCO, the UN's education, science and culture agency said banning smartphones would improve learning and also protect kids from online bullying.

"The digital revolution holds immeasurable potential but, just as warnings have been voiced for how it should be regulated in society, similar attention must be paid to the way it is used in education," said UNESCO’s director general, Audrey Azoulay.

"Its use must be for enhanced learning experiences and for the wellbeing of students and teachers, not to their detriment," she continued.

"Keep the needs of the learner first and support teachers. Online connections are no substitute for human interaction."

UNESCO looked at 200 school systems around the world and estimated one in six countries had already banned smartphones in classrooms.

Idrees Abbas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The latest country to make the move was the Netherlands, announcing that mobile phones, tablets and smart watches would prohibited from the beginning of 2024.

“Students need to be able to concentrate and need to be given the opportunity to study well. Mobile phones are a disturbance, scientific research shows. We need to protect students against this," Dutch education minister, Robbert Dijkgraaf, said when announcing the ban this month.

The town of Greystone, Ireland, recently came together and banned kids from having mobile phones in primary school. Parents and teachers said the devices were a distraction and gave strangers instant access to their kids online.

They argued a town-wide ban would also stop the feeling of peer pressure.

"You wouldn’t let your child open the door to a stranger, but giving them a smart phone is similar - at the click of a button they can reach adult material that’s far beyond their years and once they see it you can’t take it back," head teacher Rachel Harper told ITV News.

"Nobody wants their child to be the odd one out, or be different, but now that’s not case.

"What’s really come across is the parents' relief," she added.

"They were silently concerned about stepping out and thinking they were being too over protective or extreme, but that’s taken away from the parents with the school leading it."