A NEW UN report recently called for a global ban on smartphones in school. The 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report from the UN’s education, science and culture agency UNESCO released a call for technology only to be used in class when it supports learning outcomes, and this includes the use of smartphones. UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay said that the digital revolution holds immeasurable potential.
But just as warnings have been voiced for how it should be regulated in society, similar attention must be paid to the way it is used in education.
The report shows that some technology can support some learning in some contexts, but not when it is over-used or inappropriately used. In particular, the use of smartphones can disrupt learning in classrooms. One study looking at pre-primary through to higher education in 14 countries found that it distracted students from learning.
Even just having a mobile phone nearby with notifications coming through is enough to result in students losing their attention from the task at hand. One study found that it can take up to 20 minutes to refocus on what they were learning once distracted.
Removing smartphones from schools in Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom was found to improve learning outcomes, according to a study cited in the report, especially for students that were not performing as well as their peers.
Rachel Harper, Principal of St Patrick’s Primary School, Greystones, Co Wicklow appeared to be right on the button when she banned smartphone use in her school earlier this year.
“We saw children as young as nine years old requesting smartphones and it was evident that these children were not emotionally ready to navigate the complexities of these devices and the digital world,’” Ms Harper said. The initiative prompted Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to recommend it as a nationwide policy.
“Ireland can become a world leader in ensuring that children and young people are not targeted and not harmed by their interactions with the digital world,” he said. “We must make it easier for parents to limit the content their children are exposed to.”
Almost one in four countries across the globe are introducing bans on smartphone use in schools including Côte d’Ivoire, Colombia, Italy and the Netherlands.
Bans are more common in Asia. Both Bangladesh and Singapore ban smartphone use in class, but not in school. France bans smartphone use unless strictly for teaching purposes or for support to children with disabilities.
One report in China found that mobile phones were regulated in 84% of primary schools, 76% of middle schools and 64% of high school.
Some countries have banned the use of specific applications in education settings because of privacy concerns. Denmark and France have both banned Google Workspace, while Germany has banned Microsoft products in some states. In the United States, some schools and universities have started banning TikTok.
Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist and professor of ethical leadership at New York University Stern School of Business writing for the Atlantic in June, advised the banning of phones from schools entirely.
So, the time is right for parents and educators to ask: Should we make the school day phone-free? Would that reduce depression, anxiety and self-harm. I believe that the answer to all of these questions is yes, he wrote.
Mr Haidt stated that rules about using phones during class are not sufficient and are ignored anyway. What is needed is barring students from physically possessing a phone at school anytime, anywhere. “Phones should be locked up in the morning and returned at the end of the day,” he argues.
A systematic review of the impact of mobile digital devices in schools in New South Wales, Australia (2018) summarised the concerns including cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate material including ‘sexting’, use of mobile phones limiting social interactions among students, particularly during breaks and lunchtime, impacts on mental health and physical activity, and distractions from school work.
Many studies report that irrespective of the controls schools have in place to regulate access to mobile devices, students are capable of ‘workarounds’ such as using 4G on personal devices rather than school WiFi, using web proxies to allow unlimited internet access or establishing ‘virtual private networks’ on the school system.
A study of over 1,000 students across three secondary schools in Australia, found that almost 60% of students ‘worked around’ school restrictions on new technology. They did this by using low-level ‘hacks’ (logging on using teacher/admin passwords), setting up virtual private networks, hiding devices under clothing or using parts of the school that were not monitored.
A US survey found similar results with 65% of students at schools where mobiles phones were banned, bringing their phones to school every day anyway. The evidence suggests that ‘technology breaks’ may be a more effective way of responding to mobile phones than a complete ban, by allowing students allotted windows of time during the day to use their mobile digital device. This suggestion was based on the fact that 41% of college students felt highly anxious if they could not check their text messages and a fifth felt it if they could not check their social networks.
Another study suggested that instead of teachers and school boards being ‘afraid’ of mobile phones, and their potential use for texting, cheating, cyberbullying and sexting, teachers and administrators should support the ‘moral and ethical’ use of mobile phones while harnessing the ability of digital devices to enhance teaching and learning.
Similarly, there are calls from UNICEF and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights for ‘digital instruction’ or ‘digital citizenship’ to be taught to ensure students are maximally prepared to best navigate a digital world.
Digital citizenship refers to the ‘understanding the rights and responsibilities that come with being online and how to use technology in a positive way,’ while digital literacy concerns the variety of complex cognitive, motor, sociological and emotional skills that users need to function effectively in a digital environment.
Overall, the evidence on the effect of mobile digital devices on student well-being in schools is both mixed and limited. There is evidence that cyberbullying is increasing but this link cannot be directly attributed to mobile phone use in school.
Some evidence shows that the use of mobile phones may hinder social interaction which can lead to lower levels of psychological well-being, but other evidence points to the ability of mobile phones to enhance peer or family relationships.
In terms of academic outcomes, there is some evidence that mobile phones may enhance outcomes for low-achieving students, but other evidence that mobile phones can disrupt attention span and learning in classrooms, particularly for low-achieving students.
Is it time to ban mobile phones in schools? Or is a more nuanced approach needed that includes ‘technology breaks’ and consideration of digital citizenship and digital literacy- that enhances understanding of impacts on learning and mental wellbeing, as well as the rights and responsibilities that come with interacting online with friends, peers, and complete strangers?
Dr Catherine Conlon is a public health doctor in Cork and former director of human health and nutrition, safefood.
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