📑 Banning mobile phones in schools: beneficial or risky? Here’s what the evidence says

Neil Selwyn unpacks the evidence associated with banning mobile phones. He suggests that banning overlooks the immediate measures to deal with cybersafety, ignores the digital distraction associated with all devices, ignores the benefits and misses the opportunity for a conversation. This is in response to the Victorian Government’s announcement that mobile phones will be banned in schools from 2020 in Victoria.

There has been some other interesting responses to this announcement on Twitter, including:

Might as well ban the toilets, playground, school, local parks, shopping centres and friends….. all can be potentials for bullying

— johnqgoh (@johnqgoh) June 26, 2019

Mobile phones are tools for learning. Educating young people about using them safely is good policy – banning them is not.

— Greg Whitby (@gregwhitby) June 26, 2019

#TheDrum
Phones!
I’ll need more money to enforce any ban! Another DP – phones.
Just saying.

— Anncaro1 (@Anncaro11) June 26, 2019

Here's a thought – if banning phones is the answer, then pass a law that makes it illegal to give or to buy one for a child U18. If you really believe the device is the issue – be consistent. You'll have to ban smartwatches, ipads etc too, of course – you can't dam half a river.

— Dr Briony Scott (@BrionyScott) June 26, 2019

OMG is this really the answer? Big Brother says no to technology rather than teaching students how to use a potentially powerful resource responsibly. Surely a school communities choice not the rule for government. https://t.co/3fwCXIBRT6

— Peter Hutton (@EdRev) June 25, 2019

People should realise that perspectives are broad and approaches differ. @DETVic is responsible for this great digital learning project! However, no kids will be playing Minecraft AR in school next year – you need a mobile device. https://t.co/nlvDKUsW2x

— Dan Donahoo (@ddonahoo) June 27, 2019

photo by @IEUNSWACT pic.twitter.com/ZGfjAllp71

— Marco Cimino (@MrMCimino) June 28, 2019

In an extended piece associated with The Project, Jane Caro questions the support that schools will be given and negative culture it creates. She also wonders if staff will also put their devices away too?

Personally, my issues with smartphones is the sustainability of the materials – a point Selwyn touches on elsewhere – and what Kin Lane describes as the ‘sentinelization of APIs‘.