Banning phones from schools won’t help children learn
EDUCATION Secretary Damian Hinds backs a campaign calling for a ban on mobile phones in schools and in doing so highlights an inability to move on from an old-fashioned approach to education. In a culture enmeshed in the need to quantify results for teachers and pupils, we appear to have forgotten that if you want teenagers to engage with you, then you need to be engaging. And that means understanding what makes youngsters tick. There are 40 education leaders including headteachers patting themselves on the back for signing up 120 schools in support of a UK-wide ban of mobile phones, but they are missing a trick. No one would argue that smartphones aren’t a major distraction in the classroom and it’s right that teachers should be tackling this problem head on. But as a mother of four sons, I would like forward-thinking teachers to be given the opportunity to see what happens when they have the freedom for a more creative management of smartphones. Teens are more tech-savvy than adults, so if you want to find out how to deal with distracting phones, why not ask them? We should encourage technology by focusing on the benefits and not the pitfalls. Great teachers help young people to make the best decisions. Smartphones can present an exciting opportunity to engage pupils in innovative and exciting ways. Social media can be used as a springboard to discuss solutions to issues facing teens. Gadgets can also help students with difficulties with learning, memory and organisational skills to stay on track. Hearing and sight-impaired pupils have made more progress with smartphone technology than anything specialist support providers have been able to offer. If you want inclusive education, smartphones provide the platform to deliver it. Conducting experiments, creating videos, using GPS apps — tech offers myriad ways for youngsters to learn. Working alongside pupils is a faster route to discovering interactive ways to engage them. Banning phones may offer short-term gain, but could result in a higher price later down the line when tech-savvy schools discover unexpected and exciting ways to educate teenagers. These will be the pupils who will be best equipped to make an impact in the next generation of inventions, breakthroughs and discoveries. Embracing smartphone technology as an educational tool might also slow the tide of an image-obsessed, lonely generation. Instead of a blanket ban on mobiles, it is worth considering that the way to really connect with pupils may not be by making them disconnect from technology.
SOPHIE LANGLEY, Melksham, Wilts.