Something that seems to have been dismissed in the recent decision to ban phones in schools is the students’ opinion. Obviously, the majority of today's teenagers oppose this, but we haven't given them a chance to truly voice why this is – and no, it's not because we are addicted to our phones. I conducted a brief survey via Instagram with only one question: what do YOU think of the phone ban in schools?
“It’s completely understandable in class but causes much more chaos at morning tea and lunch times.”
A number of responses also had similar complaints about the ban including break times. The ban does not only include class times but the entire duration of the day from when you enter school to the time you finish. With no phones allowed during breaks, this person has noticed a significant increase in students spending lunchtimes vaping and the amount of fights breaking out. This person also reported:
“In one lunchtime [after the ban was implemented] we had four fights”
Personally, I’ve found this also affects the relaxation part of our breaks – which defeats the whole point of having a break. If we don’t have much freedom of choice, it doesn’t feel like we are having a real break.
It also fails to consider students with social anxiety, or just anyone who prefers some alone time. Not everyone has the same idea of a break, some may find it refreshing to have a chat with friends while some would find constant socialisation tiring and overstimulating.
I had similar responses from other students:
“It’s reasonable during class time but unreasonable during break times.”
“It's fine but we should be able to go on them during break/lunch and before school.”
“There are bigger issues in school we should be focusing on.”
Rather than blaming mobile devices, they suggest we focus on the bigger contemporary issues, including attendance rates, underage vaping, and the education system as a whole. They highlighted attendance rates which is not helped by the phone ban as it only discourages children from coming to school further. Especially since the issue of low attendance rates has been acknowledged, I think this ban is somewhat counter-productive for this reason. According to Te Ihuwaka - Education Evaluation Centre, the percentage of regular attendance in NZ schools was at 58% as of 2019. This percentage continues to fall more every year, and will continue to do so especially with the phone ban. We should prioritise making schools a safe, fun, and accessible environment for children.
“It does not help with extracurriculars, and students who provide for their family.”
The phone ban makes it harder for students to communicate with family and bosses, only making it harder for students juggling work, school and extracurriculars. The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) reported that in 2022, approximately 15,000 students were working 20-50 hour weeks on top of study to help support their families. Aside from the fact that these students shouldn't be working this much on top of study in the first place, the last thing they need is another obstacle.
A major issue with phone bans is the fact that we as a society will outgrow it. Technology is constantly developing and undeniably will be a huge part of our future. So why restrict it?
“Technology is the language of our generation. Utilise it in a positive way. Don’t ban completely.”
This is a response I hope older generations come to recognise. Humans are ever-changing, we have developed over time and will continue to through generations to come. Accepting these changes are the best we can do as a society. Demonising technology will not automatically fix all of our problems.
Obviously, decreasing screen time in schools will have some positive benefits, but these are the responses from the student voice. Again, we are not opposing this ban because we are ‘addicted’ to our phones but because we as students need to be heard and respected. The fact that there was no youth consultation throughout this process is proof of the student voice being actively dismissed.