Mobile phone ban in schools gives students more learning time, 'freedom away' from devices
1 year, 5 months ago

Mobile phone ban in schools gives students more learning time, 'freedom away' from devices

ABC  

When Grace Shoesmith's high school first introduced a phone-free policy at the start of the year, there was a mixed response from students. "I was definitely anxious at first, just knowing that I wasn't going to have my phone on me," the co-captain of the Kotara High School in the New South Wales Hunter Valley said. "The lived experience of many schools who had banned mobile phones was that it improved academic outcomes, reduced distractions and promoted a lot of social interaction, particularly in recess and lunchtime, which wasn't happening beforehand," he said. There is currently no national policy around mobile phones in schools, but Dr Carr-Gregg said it was a "no-brainer". "My prediction is that there'll be a blanket mobile phone ban from first bell to last in all state and territory schools by the end of next year."

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History of this topic

Phone bans sweep US schools despite skepticism
3 weeks, 3 days ago

Phone bans sweep US schools despite skepticism

Raw Story  

At a red-brick school in Virginia, Hayden Jones is one of 1,000 students banned from using their phones as part of a trial hoping to boost learning. That's a big concern for me," he said, adding that some pupils have found ways to still use their devices -- including by bringing a "dummy phone" to put in the pouch. - …

Complete ban on school students using smartphones undesirable: Delhi HC
4 weeks, 1 day ago

Complete ban on school students using smartphones undesirable: Delhi HC

Hindustan Times  

The Delhi High Court recently said a complete ban on the use of smartphones by school students was an "undesirable and unworkable" approach and it should be regulated and monitored. The students, the court said, must also be counselled that high levels of screen-time and social media engagement could lead to anxiety, diminished attention spans and cyber-bullying. "Much has changed …

Kids are more social, schools report one year into phone ban at secondary schools
4 weeks, 1 day ago

Kids are more social, schools report one year into phone ban at secondary schools

NL Times  

It’s been just over a year since the Ministry of Education banned mobile phones in secondary school classrooms, and schools are noticing a marked improvement. “The awkward moment in the class is back,” Jeroen Bron, an economics teacher at the Montessory Lyceum Amsterdam in Amsterdam Zuid, told the newspaper. That way, that social moment is back.” “Students greet each other …

Denmark to ban mobile phones, tablets in schools and after-school clubs for children aged 7 to 17
4 weeks, 2 days ago

Denmark to ban mobile phones, tablets in schools and after-school clubs for children aged 7 to 17

Live Mint  

Denmark is set to ban mobile phones in schools and after-school clubs based on a recommendation of a government commission. The proposed law will prohibit mobile phones during lessons and breaks at primary and lower secondary schools, affecting children aged 7 to 17. "It risks destroying their self-esteem.” Denmark's Wellbeing Commission’s Findings The commission’s research revealed that 94 per cent …

Results of student phone ban released
4 weeks, 2 days ago

Results of student phone ban released

ABC  

Andy Park: In recent years, education departments have moved to ban mobile phones in school settings across the country. A 12-month review of the school phone ban in South Australia shows a close to 60 per cent drop in social media related problems and a nearly 40 per cent decrease in behaviour issues linked to devices. Luke Radford: Victorian high …

Parents calling for phone bans in schools to improve their youngsters' classroom behaviour
1 month ago

Parents calling for phone bans in schools to improve their youngsters' classroom behaviour

Daily Mail  

The vast majority of parents support phones being banned in schools and think it is the answer to curbing bad classroom behaviour, according to new research. Parents even ranked a total ban on phones ahead of imposing stricter classroom rules or reducing class sizes to improve behaviour. Two thirds of the teachers said they had to respond to pupils using …

No major hitches on Day 1 without cellphones in L.A. Unified schools
1 month, 2 weeks ago

No major hitches on Day 1 without cellphones in L.A. Unified schools

LA Times  

Students at some schools in L.A. are storing their phones in magnetic pouches made by the Yondr company to comply with a new cellphone ban in Los Angeles Unified. A cellphone ban — covering some 800 schools — took effect Tuesday in the Los Angeles Unified School District, eliciting a mix of reactions but no reports of major problems. “I …

Brazil introduces law restricting smartphone use in schools amid concern over the impact on learning
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Brazil introduces law restricting smartphone use in schools amid concern over the impact on learning

Associated Press  

SAO PAULO — Brazilian students returned to class this week with a new task: staying away from their smartphones as a new law restricting their use in schools takes effect. Students return to class after recess during their first week in school under a new law restricting the use mobile phones in school classrooms at Porto Seguro School in Sao …

Mobile phone bans in schools not linked to grades or behavior of kids, says study
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Mobile phone bans in schools not linked to grades or behavior of kids, says study

Firstpost  

The study’s lead author, Dr Victoria Goodyear, told BBC, that the findings were not “against the ban of smartphones in schools but “what we’re suggesting is that those bans in isolation are not enough to tackle the negative impacts” Banning smartphones in schools has no real impact on improving grades and behaviours among students, a new study has found. The …

Banning cellphones in schools gains popularity in red and blue states
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Banning cellphones in schools gains popularity in red and blue states

Associated Press  

— Arkansas’ Republican Gov. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms about their effects on young people’s lives, has said schools need to provide phone-free times. Kim Whitman, co-founder of the Phone Free Schools Movement, said the issue is catching on because parents and teachers in both red and …

Democrat, Republican states unite in seeking mobile phone ban in US schools
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Democrat, Republican states unite in seeking mobile phone ban in US schools

India Today  

Sarah Huckabee Sanders and California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom have little in common ideologically, but the two have both been vocal supporters of an idea that’s been rapidly gaining bipartisan ground in the states: Students’ cellphones need to be banned during the school day. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who has called on Congress to require warning labels on social …

Classroom cellphone bans gain bipartisan momentum across US states
Top News
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Classroom cellphone bans gain bipartisan momentum across US states

India Today  

LITTLE ROCK: Arkansas’ Republican Gov. The push for cellphone bans has been driven by concerns about the impact screen time has on children’s mental health and complaints from teachers that cellphones have become a constant distraction in the classroom. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms about their effects …

RGUKT curbs on smartphone use raises hackles of student leaders
2 months, 2 weeks ago

RGUKT curbs on smartphone use raises hackles of student leaders

New Indian Express  

ADILABAD: Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge and Technologies, also known as IIIT Basara in Nirmal, has imposed restrictions on the usage of smartphones for first and second-year Intermediate students after Sankranti holidays. The majority opinion from parents and students was considered regarding the matter.” He also assured that the administration would revisit the policy if necessary, emphasising that this is …

Just 18% of teachers think phone ban would improve pupil behaviour – poll
4 months ago

Just 18% of teachers think phone ban would improve pupil behaviour – poll

The Independent  

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Views are clearly mixed about whether mobile phones can be used as learning tools in …

It’s time to ‘divorce’ your children from their phones
4 months, 2 weeks ago

It’s time to ‘divorce’ your children from their phones

The Independent  

It’s a discussion that has become a weekly occurrence in Soban Bashir’s home: a “game” that many parents will be familiar with – one of stubbornly sticking to your guns, played on both sides. “Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese said during his announcement. “The thing is, asking the internet, rather …

‘Turned off and stored.’ LAUSD reveals details on school cellphone ban to begin Feb. 18
4 months, 2 weeks ago

‘Turned off and stored.’ LAUSD reveals details on school cellphone ban to begin Feb. 18

LA Times  

Students retrieve their cellphones from pouches where they are stored during the school day at Bayside Academy in San Mateo, Calif. Los Angeles Unified has offered the first details of what a cellphone-free school day will soon look like as educators attempt to break the digital-device obsession of a generation of students, aiming to get them off their screens and …

In this Florida school district, some parents are pushing back against a cell phone ban
4 months, 3 weeks ago

In this Florida school district, some parents are pushing back against a cell phone ban

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Since the beginning of the 2024 …

In this Florida school district, some parents are pushing back against a cellphone ban
4 months, 3 weeks ago

In this Florida school district, some parents are pushing back against a cellphone ban

Associated Press  

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — It’s no surprise that students are pushing back on cellphone bans in classrooms. But a survey sent out by the South Florida school district earlier this fall found that of the more than 70,000 students, teachers and parents surveyed, nearly one in five parents believe the cellphone ban is having a negative impact on their student’s wellbeing. …

Banning kids from using smartphones? Yeah, right!
5 months, 3 weeks ago

Banning kids from using smartphones? Yeah, right!

The Independent  

The debate around kids and smartphones has been rumbling on for about as long as they have been in existence. But this so-called Smartphone Free Childhood “pact” currently gaining momentum online – with campaigners urging education secretary Bridget Phillipson to take action to curb the use of smartphones in schools – has particularly irked me. This was especially true for …

Our kids can’t function without smartphones – it’s about time we banned them in schools
5 months, 3 weeks ago

Our kids can’t function without smartphones – it’s about time we banned them in schools

The Independent  

I felt a flicker of relief recently. After what has felt like a long time, the adults have started standing up to the stranglehold of the smartphone and the negative effect it’s having on young children. And just today, more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit against the “dopamine-inducing” short-form video platform, TikTok, …

Bridget Phillipson urged to take immediate action to curb use of smartphones in schools until age 16
5 months, 3 weeks ago

Bridget Phillipson urged to take immediate action to curb use of smartphones in schools until age 16

The Independent  

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In an open letter to the education secretary, 30 education …

What one high school senior wants you to know about classroom phone bans
5 months, 3 weeks ago

What one high school senior wants you to know about classroom phone bans

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Mary Frances Ruskell is a senior at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia, South Carolina. It turns out that over the summer most of the teachers had read social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s book “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.” Haidt, the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ehtical Leadership at …

California orders schools to restrict cellphone use amid student distractions, anxiety
6 months, 1 week ago

California orders schools to restrict cellphone use amid student distractions, anxiety

LA Times  

Students retrieve their cellphones from pouches where they are stored during the school day at Bayside Academy in San Mateo, Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a bill into law that will require California school districts to restrict or ban student cellphone use, thrusting the state with the largest K-12 population in the nation into the forefront of a …

Opinion: Los Angeles school kids, get off your damn phones! You'll thank us later
6 months, 1 week ago

Opinion: Los Angeles school kids, get off your damn phones! You'll thank us later

LA Times  

The Los Angeles Unified School District will ban cellphones in classrooms starting in January. About a week later, I found myself among hundreds of parents in a Zoom meeting that was billed as a chance for Los Angeles Unified School District parents to discuss the district’s new policy banning smartphones during the school day. That realization prompted one father to …

Academy with 35,000 pupils becomes first in England to ban smartphones
6 months, 2 weeks ago

Academy with 35,000 pupils becomes first in England to ban smartphones

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The Ormiston Academies Trust’s chief executive said the move was …

Indiana's cellphone ban means less school drama. But students miss their headphones
6 months, 3 weeks ago

Indiana's cellphone ban means less school drama. But students miss their headphones

NPR  

Indiana's cellphone ban means less school drama. "And last year, I had a whole bunch of missing assignments," says Jadon, a sophomore at Beech Grove High School near Indianapolis. Beech Grove City Schools Superintendent Laura Hammack says she expected more pushback and disruption from students in reaction to the new law, but their response so far has been "absolutely incredible." …

Northern Ireland schools urged to restrict mobile phone use during day
6 months, 4 weeks ago

Northern Ireland schools urged to restrict mobile phone use during day

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Schools in Northern Ireland have been advised to restrict the …

Dutch primary schools also banning smartphones as remaining students return to class
7 months ago

Dutch primary schools also banning smartphones as remaining students return to class

NL Times  

Kids in the Noord region return to school today, and with that, the summer vacation is officially over and the academic year has started. As of today, primary school students are also not allowed to bring mobile phones, smartwatches, or other devices into the classroom. Many schools in the Centrum and Zuid regions implemented the ban in the past two …

Will students really get off cellphones? California’s Phone-Free Schools Act, explained
7 months ago

Will students really get off cellphones? California’s Phone-Free Schools Act, explained

LA Times  

William Schnider, a 17-year-old at Van Nuys High School and a student in the medical magnet program, has said he is against the cellphone ban announced by Los Angeles Unified School District. “We obviously require districts to take action by passing a policy to limit smartphone use, but we don’t tell them exactly how they have to do that.” Many …

France looking to ban phones in school
7 months ago

France looking to ban phones in school

China Daily  

France is to try out a ban on mobile phones at school for students aged 15 and under in an effort to give youngsters a "digital pause". The report noted what it said was "a very clear consensus on the direct and indirect negative effects of digital devices on sleep, on being sedentary, a lack of physical activity, and the …

France looking to ban phones in school
7 months ago

France looking to ban phones in school

China Daily  

By JULIAN SHEA in London | China Daily Global | Updated: 2024-08-29 09:41 France is to try out a ban on mobile phones at school for students aged 15 and under in an effort to give youngsters a "digital pause". The report noted what it said was "a very clear consensus on the direct and indirect negative effects of digital …

California passes school cellphone restrictions. But some students find workarounds
7 months ago

California passes school cellphone restrictions. But some students find workarounds

LA Times  

Student use their cellphones after unlocking the pouches that secure them from use during the school day at Bayside Academy in San Mateo. David and former Dymally teacher Ryan Quinn said students have brought multiple phones to school or bought their own magnet to unlock the pouch — and some even charge other students to use it. This way, Johnson …

Minister working on plans to ban mobile phones in secondary schools
7 months, 1 week ago

Minister working on plans to ban mobile phones in secondary schools

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Mobile phones could be banned in secondary schools under plans being considered by …

Editorial: Yes, more schools should ban student cellphones
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Editorial: Yes, more schools should ban student cellphones

LA Times  

William Schnider, a 17-year-old rising senior at Van Nuys High School, is against the upcoming cellphone ban in Los Angeles schools but says he understands why it is going to be enacted. Opinion Opinion: Why LAUSD should ban smartphones in schools L.A.’s principals and teachers need a policy aligned with current research, which shows that curbing phone use in schools …

American parents want their children to have phones in schools
7 months, 3 weeks ago

American parents want their children to have phones in schools

Live Mint  

“It’s like they don’t trust us,” says Eva King, a 14-year-old pupil at Alice Deal Middle School in Washington, DC. “It would be unrealistic to expect that one thing—social media—is driving adolescent mental health.” Most parents want their children to have phones available at school. In February the National Parents Union, an advocacy group, polled 1,506 public-school parents and found …

Pressure mounts on Labour over smartphones after survey raises concerns on usage by children
8 months, 1 week ago

Pressure mounts on Labour over smartphones after survey raises concerns on usage by children

The Independent  

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “But I do think I will sit down with anyone to look at how we’ll …

Pupils as young as 10 at £30,000-a-year prep school to be given old-fashioned 'brick' phones amid ban on smartphones
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Pupils as young as 10 at £30,000-a-year prep school to be given old-fashioned 'brick' phones amid ban on smartphones

Daily Mail  

Pupils at a preparatory school will be issued old-fashioned 'brick' phones amid the latest clampdown on smartphones. Brighton College Prep School in the high-end borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London will give students as young as 10 a basic Nokia phone which can only receive texts and calls. The move, set to be introduced at their prep school in …

Virginia joins other states with effort to restrict cellphones in schools
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Virginia joins other states with effort to restrict cellphones in schools

Associated Press  

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Virginia on Tuesday joined a growing number of states that are pushing for cellphone restrictions in public schools, citing concerns over students’ academic achievement and mental health. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that 76% of public schools prohibited “non-academic cell phone use” during the 2021-2022 school year. For example, Loudoun County Public Schools, in …

Eton bans smartphone for new pupils and will issue boys with an offline Nokia handset instead in bid to improve mental health and behaviour
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Eton bans smartphone for new pupils and will issue boys with an offline Nokia handset instead in bid to improve mental health and behaviour

Daily Mail  

Eton College has banned new pupils from bringing smartphones into school - and will issue them with a basic Nokia handset instead. Eton has banned new pupils from bringing smartphones into school in a new crackdown The elite £52,000-a-year private school has written to families and said pupils will be given a basic Nokia model that can't access the internet, …

Students scoff at a school cellphone ban. Until they really begin to think about it
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Students scoff at a school cellphone ban. Until they really begin to think about it

LA Times  

William Schnider, a 17-year-old rising senior at Van Nuys High School, is against the upcoming cellphone ban in Los Angeles schools but says he understands why it is going to be enacted. So when William, a 17-year-old rising senior at Van Nuys High School, learned that cellphones would be banned across L.A. public schools, he instantly scoffed — like so …

Teachers want to expand mobile phone ban at secondary schools after early success
9 months, 1 week ago

Teachers want to expand mobile phone ban at secondary schools after early success

NL Times  

Secondary school teachers are generally positive about the government guideline to ban smartphones in the classroom. Most believe the ban led to more calm and concentration in the class, and more than half want to expand the guideline to ban phones from school altogether, according to a survey of 4,206 secondary school staff members by the teacher’s union AOb. According …

Opinion: Smartphones have silenced kids, and that isn’t a good thing. Hooray for LAUSD’s ban
9 months, 1 week ago

Opinion: Smartphones have silenced kids, and that isn’t a good thing. Hooray for LAUSD’s ban

LA Times  

A high school student look at her phone in 2019. Now, our letter writers are once again united, but this time in praise: With barely any exceptions, they’re writing in approval of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s ban on phones during the school day. To the editor: I just finished my 29th year teaching high school English and would …

Los Angeles moves to ban smartphone use in school
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Los Angeles moves to ban smartphone use in school

Raw Story  

Education bosses in Los Angeles voted Tuesday to work towards a complete ban on the use of smartphones in the city’s schools. “Schools that have…already implemented a phone-free school day report incredible results — kids are happier, they’re talking to one another, their academics are up,” said board member Nick Melvoin, who proposed the ban. It says eliminating phone and …

Can LAUSD's cellphone ban help break kids' addiction?
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Can LAUSD's cellphone ban help break kids' addiction?

LA Times  

Smartphones in schools are distracting for students, and honor codes dictating no phone use make more work for teachers and staff who then have to police their use. It will not be easy, but schools are the best place to curb the overuse of cellphones and help break the addiction, writes columnist Robin Abcarian: “It’s very difficult to control our …

Column: Los Angeles public schools will ban cellphones. What’s not to like?
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Column: Los Angeles public schools will ban cellphones. What’s not to like?

LA Times  

Every time I write about smartphones taking a toll on adolescents, I get tut-tutted by critics accusing me of promoting moral panic. In a recent Times opinion essay, Los Angeles Board of Education member Nick Melvoin called for a ban on smartphones in L.A.’s public schools. In Spain, he added, the test scores of students at schools that have banned …

LAUSD, fed up with kids distracted by social media, to consider cellphone ban
9 months, 2 weeks ago

LAUSD, fed up with kids distracted by social media, to consider cellphone ban

LA Times  

The Los Angeles Unified School District board is considering a resolution that would ban student cellphone use. It directs staff to “develop and present to the public” policies that would prohibit student use of cellphones and social media “during the entire school day,” including lunch and breaks. “Simply put, they make kids more depressed and just plain dumber.” District high …

Opinion: Why LAUSD should ban smartphones in schools
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Opinion: Why LAUSD should ban smartphones in schools

LA Times  

Smartphones in schools are distracting for students, and honor codes dictating no phone use make more work for teachers and staff who then have to police their use. In psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s book, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Creating an Epidemic of Mental Illness,” he shows how the use of smartphones and social media, as …

MPs call for next government to consider smartphone ban for under-16s
10 months, 1 week ago

MPs call for next government to consider smartphone ban for under-16s

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The House of Commons Education Committee said tougher guidance on mobile phones in schools …

School ban on phones results in concentration and conversation
10 months, 1 week ago

School ban on phones results in concentration and conversation

Dutch News  

Pupils no longer allowed to use their mobile phones in school are chatting to each other more and are better able to concentrate but not all are happy, a survey by the Radboud University in Nijmegen has shown. The research team gauged the opinions of some 1,000 parents, pupils and teachers at two schools in Nijmegen both before and three …

'Our children should be nowhere near a smartphone': Families back teachers' calls to ban mobile phones for kids under 14 because they're 'dangerous'
10 months, 1 week ago

'Our children should be nowhere near a smartphone': Families back teachers' calls to ban mobile phones for kids under 14 because they're 'dangerous'

Daily Mail  

Parents and grandparents in St Albans have lent their support to plans for the city to become Britain's first smartphone-free area for children aged under 14. Email: tips@dailymail.com ** Grandparents Karen and Steve Mitchell, 64 and 65, said smartphones posed a danger – but it is a 'good idea' to have a basic phone at secondary school for contacting their …

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