The ban on phones in schools
The debate is international: how to limit the use of mobile phones in schools, especially for children aged under 12. The answer is not easy. On the one hand, the practical implementation of prohibiting phones poses a big challenge, especially in Greek schools where students do not have lockers. On the other hand, mobile phones form a major part of children’s social life. Many analysts believe that a complete ban is a hypocritical measure and will have the opposite effect; they advocate “lessons” and discussions, by teachers, on the rational use of the devices.
A complete ban is impossible by definition. Parents want to be able to communicate with their children, to send them money in case of an emergency, get them a taxi, even to track their whereabouts.This automatically limits teachers’ leeway regarding the issue. What can the teacher do in a Greek class? Continuously confiscate mobile phones during class? Punish and expel students who use their devices? Assign exercises that allow mobile phones to come out of the students’ bags? Encourage them in a phone rehab competition, where the teacher will also take part? Discuss the anxiety, the melancholy, the discomfort caused to the students and to them due to long hours of scrolling? Point out examples of cyberbullying on social media to sharpen their sensitivity and reflexes to such phenomena? Take them outside of class and teach outdoors where the images are far more compelling than those on a screen?
When adults are constantly glued to their phones, it is unreasonable to condemn their children for being addicted to the digital life. I remember an exceptional teacher who astonished the parents of his students as he explained that it is no longer necessary for primary school children to learn multiplication by heart because calculators are everywhere. It would be good to accept the reality of school and children’s lives and not limit ourselves to complaint or nostalgia, but to search for realistic solutions to the problem. Banning is an idle approach. An alternative method to manage the issue requires inspiration from teachers and the ministry.
