Why Australia’s schools are banning mobile phones in the classroom

The reasons why some of Australia’s most elite private schools are banning mobile phones in the classrooms

  • A number of Australia’s top private schools have banned mobiles in classrooms
  • Schools have said devices affect concentration and stress levels of students 
  • Reduced memory and a skewed view of reality are other reasons for the ban  

Some of Australia’s top private schools have banned mobile phones in classrooms, claiming they affect the concentration and stress levels of students. 

Increased fear of missing out, reduced memory and a skewed view of reality are among other reasons why schools have made the controversial ban. 

The recent bans have coincided with the New South Wales government’s review on the non-educational use of devices in schools, which include submissions saying mobile phones were useful for learning. 

Australia’s top private schools have banned mobile phone use in classrooms 

Newington College in Sydney’s inner-west introduced the mobile phone ban late last year after a failed attempt to encourage students to use the devices responsibly.

Students at the all-boys school could carry their phones as long as they weren’t seen or heard using them, before the amendments were made in October. 

Phones must now be left in lockers but messages can be checked briefly during recess and lunch, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. 

Parents of the school were notified to contact their sons through school reception. 

Deniliquin High School’s tweeted saying the students ‘were busy talking to each other in the noisy yard’ instead of playing on their phone on the first day the devices were banned in July. 

Tara Anglican School for Girls say they’ve seen a number of positive effects after forcing students to leave their phones in their locker at the start of the year.

‘The best part is the delight in the increase in morning tea and lunchtime conversation. Everyone is engaged with each other and not a screen now,’ said principal Susan Middlebrook. 

Newington College introduced the mobile phone ban in the beginning of term four after a failed attempt to encourage students to use the devices responsibly

Newington College introduced the mobile phone ban in the beginning of term four after a failed attempt to encourage students to use the devices responsibly

Tara Anglican School of girls have seen a positive impact since the mobile phone ban in the beginning of the year

Tara Anglican School of girls have seen a positive impact since the mobile phone ban in the beginning of the year

The New South Wales Teachers Federation said smart phones were needed in public schools as a useful took because they weren’t given enough funding to supply enough computers. 

The Federation of Parents and Citizens Assocation of New South Wales said educating parents and students about responsible mobile use was more effective than a ban. 

Head of the review child psychologist Michael Car Gregg will release the report next year. 

The recommendations act as as a guide but schools and aren’t compulsory.  

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk