Leader of Pedogogy
LOP Message
Recently, the Victorian government made the decision to ban mobile phones in public school classrooms. It’s an issue that we grapple with as educators, but is a blanket ban really the best course of action in the 21st century?
Banning mobile phones in schools is not a clear-cut solution
The Conversation By Neil Selwyn
Posted 26 Jun 2019, 5:40pm
Victorian Education Minister James Merlino's announcement mobile phones will be banned for all students at state primary and secondary schools is certainly a bold move.
The policy has been justified as a direct response to mounting levels of cyberbullying, concerns over distractions and schools struggling with discipline relating to students' misuse of phones.
Students will have to switch off their phones and store them in lockers from the start of the school day until the final bell. In case of an emergency, parents or guardians can reach their child by calling the school.
The Minister said in a statement:
The only exceptions to the ban will be where students use phones to monitor health conditions, or where teachers instruct students to bring their phone for a particular classroom activity.
What are other countries doing?
Whether to allow students to use mobile phones in school is certainly a hot topic in education. The Victorian announcement follows a French government ban on mobiles in schools in 2018.
Debates on the issue are also taking place in Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
There is considerable public support for banning mobiles.
In our recently conducted survey of more than 2,000 Australian adults, nearly 80 percent supported a ban on mobile phones in classrooms. Just under one third supported an outright ban from schools altogether.
Support for a classroom ban was remarkably consistent across different demographics, including political affiliation and age group.
Eli Simpson
Leader of Pedagogy