The entire community needs to get involved if moves to minimise children's use of smartphones are to be a success, a senior Guernsey politician has said.

Education President Paul Montague said: "Society needs to get behind our schools. It's a very simple rule. Our aim for all our schools is they are completely smartphone free areas."

Montague said there was increasing evidence of the impact of smartphones on children's development. Wayne Bates from the teaching union NASUWT said he agreed with the need for change.

Telecoms provider Sure said it has seen sales of "brick phones" - phones that have limited or not data so they can only make calls or texts - go up by almost half year-on-year.

Montague said: "I would like society to move to a position where generally we understand the harm that this technology can do, particularly to very young people.

"But also to allow people, let's say of teenage years, to be freed from those very, very addictive apps, at least while they're at school, and ideally for longer as well.

"If young people are going home and spending a long time sedentary looking at screens, [that's] damaging their health as well."

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"Teachers and school leaders have consistently reported that pupils using mobile phones in schools interrupts learning and damages concentration," Bates said.

"Deputy Montague is correct, there does need to be a culture shift. This can't just be done by schools alone.

"But in the absence of that, then proactive measures need to be taken to prevent that interruption of learning that, damage in a concentration and that confrontation that can arise from the misuse of phones by pupils."

Guernsey's States schools operate an "off and away policy" which requires students to have their phone turned off and put away through the entire school day.

However, some areas like the canteen and school bus have been labelled as "ambiguous areas" where phones may be needed for payment.

But Montague said changes in those areas had been made: "I understand from next week the buses won't require phones to access them.

"You don't need to pay with a phone, you can pay with cash in our canteens and also you can pay with cards."

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States of Guernsey - Education Department