Should there be a mobile phone ban in school classrooms?
Recent figures showed around a third of pupils admitted being distracted by phones in almost every lesson
- Published
The topic of mobile phones in classrooms divides teachers, pupils and parents across the country.
Do they aid learning or cause distraction?
In Scotland different schools follow a number of rules, with some favouring a complete ban.
Recent International figures, released by OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), external, showed around a third of pupils admitted being distracted by phones in almost or every lesson.
The research also revealed Scotland declined in international rankings in maths, science and reading.
What is the Scottish government's position?
The Education Secretary, Jenny Gilruth, believes a ban could help focus young minds.
She announced in Holyrood on Tuesday that any headteacher who wants to ban mobile phones in classrooms would have her full support.
The minister said: “Headteachers and councils have the power to bring about a ban.
"I know a number of schools just now in Scotland are piloting a ban and I’ve heard anecdotally that’s working very well."
Ms Gilruth added that she wanted to update the national guidance as quickly as possible.
Scotland's Education Secretary, Jenny Gilruth, believes a ban could help with the distraction of phones in class
How have schools responded?
Some schools across Scotland have completely banned the use of phones in the classroom.
The Glasgow Gaelic school has implemented a rule which means phones are not to be used during and between classes. This was supported by pupils.
Pupils at Gordonstoun in Moray are also expected to leave their phones in their boarding houses during the day, as well as handing them into staff overnight.
Gordonstoun principal Lisa Kerr told BBC Radio Scotland's Mornings programme, that it needed to be treated like any other addiction.
"I guess for us it was about working out what we want to achieve as a school and we want to be helping young people to achieve their full potential in the classroom.
"And like so many developments in life that sneak up on us, mobile phones have become pervasive before we really understood the impact of them.
"We needed to protect the children in our care. To support them to focus on our learning, to build real relationships with each other."
The school took first addressed the issue in 2017 and progressed the rules further this year.
Pupils at Gordonstoun private school are expected to leave their phones in a charging cabinet during the school day
There are no phones in use in the school day and children are also restricted in how devices are used in the boarding houses before they are handed in overnight.
The phones are locked in a charging cabinet in the boarding house and during school hours they have access to a laptop and AI.
"Technology is a vital part of education but what we’re taking away from them is an addictive substance and the addictive substance is dopamine", Ms Kerr added.
"The teenage brain is not sufficiently developed to self-regulate so we need to be the adults in the room and protect young people from the damage that they do."
She added that the pupils were happy with the decision.
What is happening elsewhere?
In July, the United Nations issued a warning about the risk of smartphone use in schools.
The report stated children should not be shielded from technology completely but more guidance was needed about what devices should be allowed in schools.
In 2017, Bangladesh banned both students and teachers in schools and colleges from bringing mobile phones into classrooms.
France also has a ban, but makes exceptions for certain groups of students, for example those with disabilities, or when smartphones are used for teaching.
And next year, the Netherlands will mostly ban mobile phones, tablets and smartwatches from secondary school classrooms.
New government guidance will allow headteachers in England to ban pupils from using mobile phones for the entire school day, but a specific date has not been announced for when schools should bring the ban into effect.
There are currently no complete bans on mobile phones in schools in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, where decisions on education are devolved from the UK government.