Some schools allow pupils to use mobiles in class. But these devices are not merely disruptive: they are status symbols that can reinforce inequality

This week school is back. Kids everywhere will trudge their way through school gates, mourning the end of the long and wet summer holidays. Senior leadership teams everywhere will be preparing to unveil new policies aimed at improving student behaviour and attitudes to learning. Somewhere, the debate around whether mobiles should be allowed in classrooms will resurface. Given that more than 90% of today’s teenagers own one, it is an important question for teachers and one that won’t be going away any time soon.

In most schools, you will find mobile phones treated like contraband. They are items to be kept strictly out of any adult’s sightline. One glimpse could, after all, land the owner in a world of bother, often culminating in the phone’s confiscation. Because of this, students tend to view their teachers as alien inhabitants from another planet, oblivious to how practically everyone carries a phone 100% of the time. Teachers for our part are merely subscribing to a simple enough maxim, out of sight out of mind.

Related: How to survive your first year: a practical guide for new teachers