Benefits of mobile devices
On the other hand, rather than considering mobile phones a distraction, they could be used to increase pupils’ engagement in learning. A Bring your Own Device initiative trialled in New Zealand secondary schools, in which pupils were encouraged to bring their smartphones and tablets to use in class, found that their digital skills were improved and that there were increased opportunities for collaboration between pupils and between pupils and teachers.
Instead of banning phones outright, schools could consider introducing mobile phone use policies which develop children’s digital skills and resilience by teaching them about the benefits as well as the risks of mobile phone use. In addition to reducing possible distractions to learning, these polices could be used to encourage appropriate mobile phone use. This might be particularly important for younger children who may be less able to regulate their use of phones appropriately.
Consulting with children
Taking the views of those most directly involved with the policy – teachers, pupils and parents – into consideration is important. Teachers must enforce the policy, children are the intended beneficiaries of the policy and the views of parents are likely to influence their child’s compliance with the policy.
In our research at Staffordshire University we carried out paired interviews with parents and their ten or 11 year-old children. First, they were asked for their views on the benefits and risks of mobile phone use at school. Secondly, a range of different school mobile phone polices were shared with them and they gave their views on these.
The findings suggest the children and their parents shared the view that phones were important for keeping in contact. They were also aware of the downsides of having phones at school, including bullying and risks of being able to access the internet. Neither parents nor children were supportive of policies involving total bans.
We found that the children contributed to the discussions in a very mature way, sometimes surprising their parents in how aware of the risks they were. Furthermore, in collaboration with their parents, they were able to come up with ideas for ideal policies and solutions to help enforce them. They demonstrated good awareness of appropriate and inappropriate use of mobile phones at school. One parent-child pair suggested a role of “telephone prefect” who would have a class mobile phone that children and parents could use to contact each other during the school day when necessary.
Involving children and parents in policy development has the potential to increase the effectiveness and enforceability of policies – and may even reduce children’s problematic phone use more broadly. Consulting with parents and pupils when developing school mobile phone policies is already recommended in Ireland.
School policies that ban mobile phones in schools may be missing an opportunity to involve children and educate them about responsible mobile phone use.
