It seems now that students at The Duston School are taking well to the new restriction on smartphone use in school hours. The policy’s intent is to increase focus and eliminate distractions, which is a step that most students feel would improve their education.
Deniz, 17-year-old walking school child Deniz received their first smartphone when they started walking to school by themselves. Specifically, they talked about the ways that phone usage harms their academic performance and learning capabilities. Deniz is currently in the first year of secondary school. On weekdays, they estimate spending about four hours per day on their cell phone. “I think the ban is a good idea because it helps us concentrate better in class,” Deniz commented.
Her kids got their first smartphone at 8 years old. It empowered her to walk to and from school by herself and to the nearby park to meet her friends. She has put age limits on some of her social media channels. Ameerah noted, “The benefits are you can access work that’s been set if the computers are all full, but the drawbacks are you can get carried away and just start scrolling.”
Ethan is 10 years old and he recently began using a hand-me-down iPhone 8. He uses it mostly for gaming, but has overall expressed his bullishness on mobile gaming. I don’t want a good enough phone anyway, Ethan mused. He acknowledged the importance of having a phone for emergencies, saying, “I just text my friends and maybe text my parents if I get in any trouble.” He mentioned the positive aspect of the ban: “It’s a good thing that we don’t have [smartphones in school] because we could just focus and we won’t be distracted.”
Maggie, 10 years old and now in Year 6, with an iPhone 13. She’s in favor of the phone ban, arguing that it shields pupils from much of the damage caused by social media.
Beth Griffiths, a science teacher at The Duston School, zeroed in on something big. She further elaborated that the school had an anti-phone policy to begin with. “We obviously work very closely with parents. We are aware that a lot of parents are acting in the best interest they believe of their child by giving them smartphones, but I think the vast majority of parents fully support not using them in school,” Griffiths said.
The prohibitions arrive as smartphones are receiving increased blame for eroding classroom focus and learning. Daisy Greenwell, a parent, stated, “Smartphones and schools don’t mix. We all know the addictive pull of these devices makes it incredibly hard for children to concentrate, focus and learn.”
Kathryn Shaw, an education consultant, remarked on the challenges of enforcing such policies across different schools. “We can provide guidance, consultation and leadership, but we cannot enforce policy across trusts.”
The sentiment from students is overwhelmingly clear that most students understand how smartphones can be distracting. Students have long waited for this new policy to take effect to help make their school a more effective place to learn. As Deniz put it succinctly, “It’s time to focus on our studies without distractions.”
