Return to school rings in phone ban
With the onset of term two, teachers and students are readying for a new normal – a school day without cellphones. But many schools had already implemented phone bans, principals say.
Cellphones are banned in all schools from the start of term two – today – including interval and lunchtimes. Before the change in the law that National brought in, each school was allowed to devise their own rules regarding cellphones.
Several school principals said they already had cellphone regulations in place. Today would be just another start to the school term.
Westlands College principal Nic Richards, said his school, based in Hokitika, had already implemented cellphone regulations, so today would be just another day.
The school had banned cellphones during lessons, so the rule would just be extended into breaktime, he said.
He said the policy banning the cellphones during school time had been “highly effective”, and had been running for a couple of years.
Hutt Valley High School principal Denise Johnson said the school had already implemented no cellphone policy in the first term, with wall pockets provided to place phones in during lesson.
However, nothing had been implemented for morning tea and lunc, so that would be the new part, she said.
Johnson said it was “difficult” to know how things would go today.
“For me, the focus is on what’s happening in the classroom and we’ve been really pleased with that.”
She said “time would tell” how the ban would go at today’s lunchtime, but said the new rules had had a positive and encouraging reaction from the students so far.
“I don’t anticipate any major problems.”
She said the response from parents had been “overwhelmingly positive” so far, although some had questioned the need for the ban for intervals and lunchtime.
Maungaraki School principal Shane Robinson said today would be business as usual for the primary and intermediate school, as it already had a policy of no phones out during lessons or breaks.
While he imagined there would be a challenge for secondary school students, his “little guys” weren’t as impacted by the policy, he said. “There was no real change for us in school hours.”
In a message shared through the school’s website, Wellington High principal Dominic Killalea shared the results of a survey discussing a potential cellphone-ban policy.
He said most staff agreed with the draft plan, but most students strongly disagreed with the proposal.
Killalea said he had enjoyed reading the students’ response, one of which stated, “… Sorry, I don’t want my mum calling the school about my gynaecologist appointment”.
Another said they were four months away from turning 18, and if they could be trusted to have sex, they could be trusted to have a phone. “If it’s impacting my learning, that’s on me.”