The NSW state opposition wants to ban mobile phones in schools, but has that horse already bolted?
Phones are just a part of life these days and before anyone gets hot and bothered about kids having them in school, you should look around and see how many people crack them out at work.
And apart from phones, they all have laptops for school, at least at secondary level, and everything you can do on a phone you can do on a laptop, so what’s the difference?
Kids have no reason to be using mobile phones in class so I agree they should be turned off, handed in and returned at the end of the school day. If helicopter parents need/want to contact their child during school hours they can do it the ‘old-fashioned’ way and call the school office. All laptops, tablets and computers should not have access to social media so that the kids can spend their time doing school work not wasting time or worse bullying other kids.
I don’t think mobile phones should be banned in schools, but I do agree they should be handed in and returned before they leave at the end of their school day. I’ve been out of the school system for a few years now, but phones do come in handy when public transport has been cancelled or running late. There really isn’t alot of public phone boxes around anymore so really they are a necessary evil. Schools can also block websites within the school grounds – this was happening at my children’s school when they were attending, so I’m sure things have advanced more since 5 years ago.
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