The Minister for Education is planning to ban mobile phones from all second-level schools in response to research which links use of devices to student distraction and cyberbullying.
While most second level schools either restrict the use of mobile phones or oblige students to place them in lockers, Norma Foley said she was convinced a wider ban was the best way forward.
She said great progress has been made by primary schools and parents’ associations to make childhood “smartphone-free” by introducing voluntary bans outside school time in recent years.
Ms Foley said it was now time to establish a “culture of non-acceptance” of mobile phones at second level schools.
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“I am now in a space where I’m looking to introduce a ban on mobile phones at post-primary,” she said.
“All studies, including a United Nations study last year, are telling us that mobile phones interrupt learning in a school environment. Obviously, they are also a cause of cyberbullying and we know, too, that the community of conversation is very much interrupted by the fact that students take out their mobile phone at different times.”
While she said second level schools are doing a “huge body” of work in developing policies on appropriate mobile phone use, Ms Foley said many principals also say phones are still going off in students’ bags and interrupting study.
“It’s a continual hum, almost, in the background ... so, I think we need to establish in our schools a culture of non-acceptance of mobile phones.”
Paul Crone of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) said most schools have policies on phone use and no longer permit their use in class.
“I’m not aware of schools where students use their phones as digital learning devices any more. There is a now an ICT grant for purchasing digital resources and laptops for use in class. If there is to be a blanket ban, then we’ll need resources for digital devices and resources to continue,” he said.
Mr Crone also raised concerns that a blanket ban may not be the best way of getting buy-in from parents and students.
“Schools have been dealing with mobile phones for a long time. We know they are hugely negative for social interaction and can play a big part in bullying incidents at schools. The only positive is that they are contactable by parents when travelling to and from school,” he said.
“The schools which have the most effective policies are the ones who developed them in partnership with students and parents, where the rationale s clearly communicated and there is buy-in.”
Ms Foley, meanwhile, said it is her “absolute ambition” to extend the free schoolbooks to all students at second level in October’s budget.
“I do think there’s a general goodwill towards this. There’s an absolute recognition of the positivity and the benefit for parents and guardians and for students themselves. So I’ll doing all that I can, but I can’t guarantee it until we have the business of the budget done... ”
She was speaking at the launch of the first year of a new scheme which will see free schoolbooks and classroom resources provided to Junior Cycle students in post-primary schools.
More than 212,000 students enrolled in about 670 post-primary schools will benefit as the new school year commences over the coming days.
The €68 million initiative was announced in last October’s Budget, and free schoolbooks were rolled out at primary level over recent years.
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