Should mobile phone use be banned in schools?

Poll

Should mobile phone use be banned in schools?

The UK government has introduced new guidance on mobile phones in schools in England.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-crackdown-on-mobile-phones-in-schools

This has been described as a 'ban' or 'crackdown' on mobile phones, as headteachers have been given guidance to introduce policies banning mobile phone use, although many schools already have policies banning or restricting the use of mobile phones.

Do you think that schools should ban the use of mobile phones? Does or did your school ban mobile phones? Or can they play an educational role?

Reply 1

erin11

Debate & Current Affairs Helper, Study Forum Helper

the new guidance was a little bit pointless - most schools already have bans/restrictions on phones anyway

Reply 2

Gazpacho.

Original post by erin11

the new guidance was a little bit pointless - most schools already have bans/restrictions on phones anyway

Yep. It has taken the government three years to produce this guidance years after schools introduced their own identical policies years ago.

Next on Gillian Keegan's agenda is to advise schools to ban the use of cigarette smoking in the classroom.

Reply 3

Saracen's Fez

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by erin11

the new guidance was a little bit pointless - most schools already have bans/restrictions on phones anyway

Yes absolutely! It's a perennial moral panic so for all of us 00s/10s kids the focus on phones in schools feels very retro :rofl:

When I started high school in 2008 you were meant to hand in your phone at the office. (In practice, if it didn't come out of your bag or go off, teachers were not going to go looking for it to confiscate.)

Reply 4

Coeoe

😅 our school does it during study classes and I find that it helps remove not only the distractions of the phone itself, but also the people around you messing with their phones. During classes, if the teacher spots you with your phone out, they will go ballistic. School is for learning and only that (classes and study sessions I mean, not including lunch etc) so it makes sense to confiscate the one very prominent distraction.