An Oxfordshire headteacher has stated mobile phones are important to pupils as research shines a light on youngsters being hit or narrowly missed by vehicles while on their devices.

A poll for Churchill motor insurance found found that 84 per cent of secondary pupils admit to using their phone when walking near roads, and 18 per cent have been hit by a vehicle or involved in a near miss.

54 per cent of children receive their first phone during the summer holiday before secondary school, with more than half of children also walking at least some of the way to school alone for the first time, according to the research.

READ MORE: Controversial Chinese university growing Oxfordshire campus

But Carla Berry, principal of Wykham Park Academy in Banbury has said there are pros and cons for using phones in schools. 

Ms Berry said: “We know how important mobile phones are for our pupils. Out of school they are key to their social and recreational activity.”

“We also know just how distracting they can be, and we support initiatives aimed at educating young people around the safer use of mobile phones near roads.

"As a school in the heart of a busy town, we understand the hazard local traffic presents and are keen to mitigate the risks.”

Churchill has launched a ‘Screen down, Eyes up’ campaign to raise awareness of the risks of using mobile phones when crossing roads.

The insurance company has shared its latest research with schools across the UK to raise awareness of the potential dangers of children’s phone use near roads.

It found 10 per cent of secondary school pupils admit they are not aware of the dangers of using a phone while walking near a road.

The research also found 45 per cent of students use their phones to scroll social media whilst walking, including to school and 69 per cent admitted they often feel so distracted by their phones, that they are unaware of their surroundings.

Clinical psychologist Dr Jessamy Hibberd said: “Children’s experience of the visual world is very different from adults. Younger secondary school children do not combine different sensory information, such as vision and sound, to make sense of the world as adults do.

“Secondary school children are also more impulsive and do not process risk in the same way as adults, which means that signage directed at them around schools needs to be more noticeable and ‘direct’ to grab attention away from their phones.

“Bright contrasting colours, simple messages, multiple attention alerts incorporating sound and texture on the ground, are all essential factors to encourage greater attention of the risks when crossing the road.”