Dutch cabinet advises school to ban smartphone from the classroom

Only when the use of a smartphone is absolutely necessary, for example, for medical reasons, it should be allowed, the advice of the government reads, as reported by NRC. The guideline is a response to a report from January that lit the debate on smartphones at school. The report stated that mobile phones often lead to distracted pupils, unrest in classrooms and more cyberbullying.

Brains

Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf is convinced that mobile phones do not belong in the classroom, the Dutch broadcaster NOS reports. "There, students should concentrate and get space to learn. Mobile phones disturb that process, and we have to protect them against that", Dijkgraaf says.

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Schools have the freedom to determine the exact content of the rules concerning smartphones. That means that they can also choose to ban the smartphone everywhere in the school, not only in the classrooms.

There has been a discussion about smartphones in the classrooms for some time already. Experts have warned that the devices are very addicting for young people and that the brains of adolescents have not developed far enough to resist the stimulations. Studies show that students who spend much time on their phones get lower scores on their exams, NOS reports.

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Table tennis

Reformed schools in the Netherlands are happy with the new guideline, the Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad writes. Jan Bakker, who is a board member of the Calvin College in the south of the country, believes that the government does schools and students a great favour. Bakker's school introduced a ban on phones in the classroom three years ago already. And the school is very satisfied with that decision, the board member says. "Students talk to each other again; they play table tennis and table soccer."

He advises schools to be well-prepared before implementing a new policy. Good communication with parents, teachers and students is crucial, he emphasises. In addition, he points out that it is important to keep in mind whether a policy is enforceable. "We chose a policy that says that we don't want to see or hear phones. We don't want to be the police and search students. For us, this works very well."

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Eductation

However, a ban is not sufficient to limit the negative consequences of smartphone use, the Reformatorisch Dagblad writes in an editor's comment. Instead, schools should dedicate themselves to educating their pupils on how to deal with their smartphones and social media, the newspaper asserts.

Next year, the Dutch Ministry of Education will study whether it is possible or necessary to introduce a legal ban on smartphones in the classroom.