Education / Mobile phone ban would be ‘excessive’, AHS student council says
PUPILS at Anderson High School (AHS) feel a ban on mobile phones would be “excessive” and a “punishment” for them, a student council has claimed.
Concerned parents last year started a petition calling on phones to be banned during the school day at the AHS, asking them to be stored in bags or safe deposit boxes instead.
Some parents said their children are accessing apps – such as TikTok and Snapchat – that they are banned from seeing at home, while at school.
Shetland Islands Council has consulted with teachers, pupils and parents on their views on mobile phones in schools, with a report about any decision expected to come before councillors later this year.
However, the AHS’ student representative council (SRC) has said it would not support an outright ban on phones in the school.
A school improvement plan for the 2025/26 AHS school year, which was completed in co-operation with staff, parents and pupils, shows that the SRC has raised concerns about a full ban.
The pupils’ council said that taking phones away from them “feels excessive and a punishment”.
It said phones were used for making appointments, organising after school activities and in the event of emergencies.
“Some pupils benefit from time on their phones at break and lunchtimes,” the SRC said.
“Some pupils find social times challenging – the phone is a support.
“The SRC queried how practical it would be for the school to enforce a ban and wondered what the consequences would be for pupils using their phones.”
It also raised concerns that cyber bullying could occur more outside the school, where there was no supervision from staff, leaving pupils “more isolated and vulnerable”.
And it said that children who were exempted from the ban – such as those with health needs or certain anxieties – could be “targeted” because they were allowed to use a phone.
“There was also a concern that children and young people may become more addicted to their phones after school at home, having not been allowed to access it during the school day,” the SRC said.
“It is the belief of the SRC that, without the use of phones, a device would be needed for every child in school.”
Brae secondary pupil Beenie-Ann Wood wrote for Shetland News last December that most pupils felt a widespread ban on phones could only cause more disruption.
“A complete ban of mobile phones is likely to affect pupils’ wellbeing and add worry to their already stressful lives,” she had said.
“Many young people, but equally so parents and guardians, feel more at ease knowing they can contact each other during the school day.”
Last month, she was elected to become one of Shetland’s two Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP).
The local petition, published last November, said that parents “and many young people themselves” wanted schools to minimise the negative impact of smartphones.
The concerned parents said mobile phones distract pupils from school, are a detriment to mental health and promote cyberbullying.
They have also said children can access pornography through them, which they were often “exposed” to through social media and messaging apps.
And they wrote that the phones “infringe on a child’s privacy”, with children allowed to video and photograph each other at school without consent at school.
Councillors on the SIC’s educations and families committee are due to consider a report about the use of mobile phones in schools at its meeting on 17 November.
Earlier this year the SIC said it hoped to create balanced and effective guidance for the use of mobile phones in schools, which supports educational outcomes and promotes the health, safety and well-being of children, young people and staff.
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