Should there be a National Phone Ban in All Schools?


With news that St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School has
joined the ranks of schools across the nation to successfully implement a phone ban, attention has now turned to the possibility of a nationwide policy of “phone free schools”. In such schools, phones are prohibited within school hours – with many adopting “phone lockers” where devices are locked between the hours of 9am and 3pm. Such is the uptake that in 2022 the Department of Education (DfE) ruled that a blanket mandate was unnecessary given its proliferation. Only in February 2024 has DfE issued guidance encouraging schools in England on how and why to implement the bans. The question therefore is – should the Senedd follow?

Phones Reduce Student Focus For Tasks

In November, the House of Lords published a government research article on mobiles in schools. Their work noted several studies, including one indicating that following a mobile phone interruption it can take students up to 20 minutes to regain the level of focus and attention that they had pre-disruption. Another study meanwhile found that even the presence of a switched-off phone reduced cognitive capacity and focus for tasks in students. Studies indicate that 2 out of 3 students aged 15 across developed nations report being distracted by their mobiles in class. The DfE’s latest national behaviour survey published in April 2024 found that 20% of secondary students reported mobiles were used in most lessons without permission.

Phones Lead To Increased Bullying

Such effects go beyond the individual. Peers and classmates in one study reported being distracted by fellow students using their phones without permission – and these students went on to score significantly lower as a result of poor discipline in their peers. The impact of this was measured to be equivalent to losing three-quarters of one year of education. This is without considering numerous studies which found links between phones and social media and increases in bullying – with the internet providing a cover from which to terrorise peers.


Phone Bans Improve Test results


Whilst studies on the impact of phone
bans are rarer, and there are some which find no correlation between phone bans and improved outcomes, there are a few notable studies which do. One study by the London School of Economics found that the impacts of a ban were positive – resulting in the equivalent of a week’s education being added to the school year overnight. Student scores rose by 6% as a result of bans, with deprived and lower-attaining students being most positively impacted. Whilst one of the study’s authors noted that it is impossible to rule out that these schools were the worst offenders and thus were seeing an out-sized difference – it is worth noting that such practices remove the overt negatives that have been noted across studies, regions and nations.

How We Can Help

The evidence therefore indicates that it is in the best interests of students to conduct a national ban on mobiles in school in Wales. Whether the Senedd follows the trend however remains to be seen. In the meantime, we here at Cardiff & Vale Tutoring can help mitigate the impact of peer disruptions by providing dedicated teaching time for students to hone their skills free from disruption or distraction. Contact us for more information and guidance.

 

This blog was written by Dr Daniel Chesse.

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