A nationwide ban on mobile phones in the classroom seems a step closer. Minister Wiersma will investigate whether this is a good plan. Schools struggle with cell phones. On the one hand, students need them in class, on the other hand, they are often used to Whatsapp, Snapchatting or to TikToks. And that’s where schoolwork suffers.
Dennis Wiersma, the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, acknowledges that mobile phones in the classroom can disrupt lessons. According to him, it is often heard from schools that they are struggling with the ‘mobile phone discussion’. So far there is no national policy regarding the use of mobile phones in the classroom. As a result, schools themselves determine which rules they apply. This got the minister thinking: should the government perhaps play a more active role in this?
Phone bag
Many schools nowadays work with a telephone bag. This bag contains 30 compartments where phones can be stored. Students plug in their mobile phones there at the start of class and are no longer distracted during class. However, in practice this does not work as well as it seems. Even the presence of the mobile phone in the classroom reduces the learning ability of the students.
Decision
A nationwide ban on mobile phones in the classroom seems a step closer thanks to the research, but we are not there yet. In the near future, the minister will first talk to those involved (teachers, students and education unions) and then take a decision. That should be ready before summer. What do you think? Should mobile phones disappear from classrooms altogether?