A year after the government has banned school phones to help students focus and reduce distraction in the classroom, we are starting to see how it is implemented and successful.
As part of this process, our new research asked the youth about the ban. Surprisingly, they had a lot to say.
Schools around the world, including Australia, France, England, Italy, China and parts of the United States, have implemented similar bans. The principle of guidance has been everywhere to help students perform better at school.
When New Zealand’s ban was implemented in April 2024, Prime Minister Christopher Loxon said it was time to cut distractions so that the kids could learn and achieve it.
But studies have shown that these bans are often not working according to planning. For example, recent research from the UK, with more than 1,200 students, did not show a significant difference in academic or well -being between schools with accurate telephone ban and those with calmer policies.
With many questions while banning how it is implemented, we wanted to hear what was going on in schools and what the young people really thought. We talked out of 25 schools across the country with 77 young people 12 to 18 years. Some of them liked the prohibitions, others were not sure.
Mixed feelings
Many students had different emotions about the prohibitions. Some confessed that these bans have helped reduce distraction and have rested from using their phones. As one explained, “Otherwise, we will be through the phone all day, all night, all night, and will not be healthy for our minds.”
But other students said the ban has created new problems.
First, some students feel stressful and anxious when they cannot contact their parents or caregivers throughout the day. Second, they said that these laws are not always clear or fair. Some teachers were strict, others were not. And sometimes, teachers used their phones in the class, but the students couldn’t.
This double understanding standard – where teachers can use phones but students cannot – many respondents treat our feelings of disappointment and unfair. In some cases, they even make them more hidden about using their phone. One student said, “Even if we are not allowed to use your phones, they are all alarms and they use it anyway.”
Non -consultation
Many students said they had not been asked what they think before introducing the bans. They felt that adults would regulate the rules without asking them or listening to them. One of our interviewees said, “It feels that they are just forbidding everything, thinking they are fixing the problem.”
Many of them did not understand the purpose of the ban, especially as they still have to use laptops and other technologies in the class.
Recent research has shown that more than 80 percent of students at Aotearoa, New Zealand, say technology is in distraction – not just the phone.
Currently, some students have found clever ways to ban a phone ban.
At an Auckland school, the students began using the chat governor instead of the phone to communicate with their peers.
Examples of this kind of banning the show always do not change the behavior in the way it is intended. This can simply make students feel how much adults are really mental technology.
Youth as a problem -solving problem
In our research, the youth provided other options for the ban.
Many suggested to allow phones at rest and lunch. As such, they can be connected without disconnecting the class. They also said that adults not only determine the rules to model healthy digital habits.
According to students’ response, it seems that learning and teaching how to use phones in healthy ways is more useful than banning them.
Research from the digital health laboratory supports this balanced approach, with emphasis on the skill in limitation. But for this, adults also need support. Teachers and parents need education and resources to help young people guide – and they should also consider how they feel about this ban.
The ban on phones does not eliminate the bigger issue of helping young people for safe and responsible use. If schools really want to support students, they must go beyond the rules of the same size.
Our research shows that young people are not just passive technology users. They are the problem -solving problem. They want to be part of the conversation – and part of the solution.
This involves replacing the top -down bans with meaningful conversations, including young people and adults to build a fair and practical digital guidelines, where all benefit.
Cara Swit is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Canterbury. Aaron Hapoko is a lecturer at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Canterburch. Helena Cook is a lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies at the University of Contemplar. Jennifer Smith is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education at the University of Contemplar. This article is published by Creative Commons. Read Main articleHuman
