Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

'Schools should ban smartphones and social networks'

This poll, which was conducted in Ireland, gives the majority opinion that smartphones and social networks should be banned in schools - ostensibly to help stamp out cyberbullying.

Sounds reasonable?

63 per cent of people think schools should ban smartphones and social networks

Reply 1

Architecture-er

Well I quite agree with phones banned at school (they are at my old secondary school, at least use in class was). Can't quite imagine how they think they could police a ban on social networks though, and its totally unnecessary.

Kids just need to realise that large facebook friend counts isn't cool, so then they'll just add friends, and not their entire school (which is what exposes them to cyberbullying).

Reply 2

g_star_raw_1989

Oh no, what will they do without their phones and social networks?!

Reply 3

jimcatinnes

They were banned at my school, we couldn't even use google images...

Reply 4

LETSJaM

Have fun with putting that into effect. :rolleyes:

<3 x

Reply 5

FSP

nah, if you want to stop Cyberbulling. Hand out detentions to kids who post stuff online. Dont start confiscating technology

Reply 6

`Jts

I don't think that'll do anything. If anything, that's a stupid idea. It wont prevent cyberbullying.

Reply 7

username851717

It worked pretty well when I was at school but outside incidents took place still.
They usually just fob it off as an out of school incident and let it be.

Reply 8

philistine

Agree completely. Smartphones are essentially like crack pipes to adolescents.

Reply 9

SnoochToTheBooch

sounds like treating a symptom rather than the cause - why is bullying so common in the first place?

Reply 10

eterna

Even though i doubt it would do much to help with bullying, I think they should be banned in schools. They have no positive benefits in being there.

Reply 11

Ice_Fire

Phone usage in class was banned at my school anyway, as it should be. I don't see how a) they could ban social network use and b) how it would make any difference, the cyberbullying would happen outside of school anyway.

Bullying in general needs to be tackled, why people think it's okay to treat people badly.

Reply 12

cakefish

Original post by jimcatinnes

They were banned at my school, we couldn't even use google images...

Ha same, was ok at first but they got increasingly totalitarian in their banning of websites and like you say even Google Images was killed off eventually. Genuinely made power-points, posters and presentations etc etc very difficult as I lacked a laptop computer of my own at the time.

Reply 13

Dez

All a ban like this would do is fob off the problem of cyber-bullying so schools are no longer responsible for fixing it.

Instead of shying away from the issue they should tackle it head-on, kids need to be taught how to use technology and social networks responsibly and safely. Banning something won't educate kids about it, instead it'll do the exact opposite. Just look at abstinence-only sex ed in the US. Stuff like this just does not work.