At less than 0.001 per cent of a budgetary package totalling more than ¤100 billion, the proposal to fund the purchase of pouches for schools seeking to restrict phone use must have seemed politically innocuous when it was proposed by Minister for Education Norma Foley. But the €9 million allocated to the scheme has taken up a vastly disproportionate share of post-Budget airtime.
The disruption to education caused by smartphones and the more complex question of their impact on the mental health of young people have been the subject of considerable debate in recent years. Many schools have already introduced bans on phone use on their premises. Some use the pouches, which lock the phone away from use during school hours. Others just insist that phones be switched off and put away. It is not clear, therefore, that the new initiative is the best use of limited funds in an education system under strain on several fronts, including special needs provision, necessary building works and teacher availability. To be fair to the Minister, there have been advances in recent years in areas such as free textbooks and school meals. But this announcement smacks of pre-election gimmickry.
Nevertheless, the enthusiasm with which some Opposition parties seized on the issue suggests a touch of desperation. It is a difficult week for them, as they struggle to land an effective blow in the wake of a giveaway Budget. The pouches offer an opportunity to continue what has been a profitable line of attack over Government profligacy.
For Sinn Féin such tactics are not risk-free. Revelations that the Northern Ireland Executive had launched a very similar pouch scheme on a pilot basis rather undercuts the outrage being expressed by the party south of the Border.
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As for the pouches themselves, opinion is divided over their effectiveness. Ultimately, if there is to be real change in how society treats mobile phone use, it should come from adults changing their behaviour. TDs might consider that fact as they slouch, aimlessly scrolling, during debates in the Dáil.