“Just today, two students in the same class fell asleep,” says one secondary schoolteacher based in Dublin.
His students are “exhausted from being up all night on their phones”, he says.
He is one of dozens of teachers who responded to an Irish Times call-out on the issue of screen time, some of whom believe children now expect them to “entertain them, rather than educate them”.
They are responding to a column by The Secret Teacher, who wrote teachers are becoming disenchanted because children’s general level of intelligence and attention spans have plummeted.
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Teachers contacted by The Irish Times, all of whom speak on the condition of anonymity, describe pupils falling asleep in school after being awake “until all hours” with “unfettered access” to the internet.
Most believe this access is resulting in low attention spans during class, so some pupils “struggle to grasp basic concepts”.
One primary schoolteacher based in Cork recalls a student recently “dozing against the railings during yard time”, who told her he “wanted to go to sleep”.
“When I asked why he thought he might be tired, he said it was because he was on his phone until late into the night.
“I have seen wonderful, engaged and clever children transform before my eyes into sullen, uninterested students. The only thing that changed was the introduction of a mobile phone,” she says.
One woman who has taught at primary level for more than a decade says she has seen a “huge difference” in the attention spans of children in that space of time. She attributes this change to smartphones and tablets.
Describing a “constant battle” to gain and keep children’s attention in class, she says it is “exhausting”.
“Their ability to attend and engage with the world around them is fleeting and many are unable to experience the joy of being absorbed in a task. There are many children with listening and attention skills in the low seconds,” she says.
Teachers recount second-class pupils receiving smartphones as gifts for their First Holy Communion, believing this is impeding their ability to fully engage in class from a young age.
On the other hand, some describe a marked difference in the attention spans of students whose parents monitor and limit their screen time.
One secondary teacher in Dublin claims such students are “better learners”, have stronger concentration skills and less of a “need for everything to be so interactive all of the time”.
However, most parents are “reluctant to confront the issue” of screen time, a primary school principal in Co Limerick says.
The woman, who has worked in education for more than two decades, believes parents are “unwilling or unable” to take back control of their children’s devices, which is “robbing” children of skills and knowledge.
“It is the most concerning issue across the board. Teachers are banging their heads against the wall,” she says.
Alongside children coming to school “exhausted” from using devices late at night, she describes online bullying and “horror stories” of what young children stumble across online.
“It just beggars belief that parents continue to stick their heads in the sand despite increasing problems and growing evidence of the detriment to children. Teachers feel powerless without parents’ support and intervention.”
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Others working in education claim parents are largely “in their own bubble of cluelessness”, believing the Government should “step in” and implement an outright ban on smartphones for under-16s.
Some, however, remark how parents are “already under so much pressure”, working hard due to “huge mortgages” and the cost of living.
“Is it any wonder they’ve no energy to police the internet when they get home at night,” says one teacher based in Co Galway.
