Council / Majority of parents and teachers back ban on mobile phones in schools
Pupils support some restrictions in SIC surveys
ALMOST three quarters of parents think mobile phones negatively affect their children’s mental health at school.
And more than half want to see phones taken off their children for the duration of the day in secondary schools across the isles.
The responses come from surveys conducted by Shetland Islands Council among parents, pupils and teachers ahead of a decision in the new year on the mobile phone policy in schools.
Concerned parents last year started a petition calling on phones to be banned during the school day at the Anderson High School (AHS), asking for them to be stored in bags or safe deposit boxes instead.
However the AHS’ student representative council said it would not support an outright ban on phones in the school, calling the move “excessive”.
Survey responses to the SIC show a clear divide in views on the subject between parents and pupils.
Of the 500 parents who responded, 265 said they would like to see mobile phones completely banned during the day – including at break times.
Almost 82 per cent would also support “strict, age appropriate Wi-Fi filters” being applied so that educational content only could be accessed.
But an overwhelming majority of school pupils said they would strongly oppose a full scale banning of mobile devices.
Of the 754 pupils who responded to the question, 614 of them – over 81 per cent – said they strongly disagreed with the prospect of not using their phone across the whole day.
However 468 pupils – 63 per cent – said they would happy for there to be restrictions through the school day, with devices kept in bags or pockets.
Just 67 pupils said they felt their mobile device distracted them during the day, while 221 said it both helped and distracted them.
Almost three quarters of pupils said they used their phone for messaging parents or carers, while just over half also said they used it for schoolwork.
But 402 of the 672 pupils who responded to the question said they used their phone for messaging friends, and 267 said they used it for viewing social media.
Though there were a smaller pool of teachers responding to the survey, the majority of them joined parents in supporting a ban on phones.
Sixty one of the 114 who replied said they would like to see mobile devices banned throughout the school day, while 100 of the 114 said strict Wi-Fi limits for educational purposes only would be a good move.
The SIC wrote in the survey that there was “significant concern among parents and carers about the impact of mobile phones on children’s safety, mental health, and learning environment”.
“There is a strong call for clear and effective policies to manage mobile phone use in schools,” it added.
Of the 500 parents responding, 367 said they felt mobile phone use at schools negatively impacted their children’s mental health.
Almost 60 per cent of those said they did not know what the mobile phone policy was at their children’s school, while another 22 per cent said they did not agree with the current policy.
One question, regarding the use of parental controls on their children’s mobile phones, was skipped by 171 – around 35 per cent – of the 500 parents.
The local petition, published last November, said that parents “and many young people themselves” wanted schools to minimise the negative impact of smartphones.
Shetland Islands Council’s education and families committee had been expected to consider the mobile phone policy at its meeting in November, but this did not appear on the agenda.
The report is not included in the committee’s business programmes for its remaining meetings this financial year.
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