NOS/Jeroen van EijndhovenA storage bag for telephones in the classroom
NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 22:01
Many secondary schools are not waiting for the government’s advice to ban mobile phones from classrooms after the New Year. They are already choosing to exclude smartphones from lessons. According to the VO Council, about 30 percent of the schools have already tightened their rules.
Just before the summer holidays, Minister Dijkgraaf of Education issued “compelling advice” to secondary schools to only allow smartphones from 1 January 2024 if there is a medical reason for this or if the mobile phones are needed for lessons.
They don’t want to wait for that at College de Heemlanden in Houten. Since this week, students have to put their phones in the safe. Devices that do appear in the classroom are left at the reception for the rest of the day.
Not all students at the school are equally pleased with the new policy:
‘Sometimes there is also a number on it and I can’t check it’
“It caused too much unrest,” says Rector Yolanda Petermeijer of College de Heemlanden. “That vibration with a message or mobile phones that keep lighting up: even students admitted that they were always distracted.”
According to Petermeijer, almost all colleagues were in favor of a ban during class. “A few wanted to ban the telephone completely in the school. We opted for a variant in which students are allowed to use their telephone during breaks or during an intermediate hour.”
Many schools already had rules for the use of mobile phones in the classroom, says a spokesperson for the VO council. “Influenced by the public debate, many schools have started to evaluate and tighten their policies. This gives us confidence that the ‘no, unless’ principle will become the norm this school year.”
The use of smartphones at school has been the subject of much discussion in recent years. Experts warned of the harmful consequences of smartphone use in the classroom. School boards were not waiting for interference from The Hague.
Lobke Vlaming, director of Parents and Education, is pleased that many schools are already banning telephone calls from the classroom. “Why should schools wait until the turn of the year? The start of this school year is a logical moment. We are happy that they are moving forward.”
2023-08-24 20:01:07
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