Mobile Phone Bans - What we should have learnt from National Prohibition

The idea was a noble one, prohibit the sale of Alcohol in the United States and you can reduce crime, solve social problems and improve health among other worthy endeavours. Whilst there may have been a decline in the consumption of alcohol, the unintended side effects were disastrous, with a dramatic increase in organised crime and violence. Whilst prohibition may not have caused the increased criminal activity, it was certainly an easy place for criminals to turn to to make a quick buck as there were plenty of buyers. There's always a way of getting around prohibition.

The ban on mobile phones has begun! Perhaps mobile phones will be different and schools should ban these devices. The Victorian Education Minister James Merlino recently announced a ban to take effect from the beginning of 2020. There is already a ban of mobile phones in NSW government primary schools. In searching for the purpose for these draconian bans on mobile phones, the main argument rests on increasing incidents of cyberbullying. Now, anything to curb cyberbullying and the sad outcome for some individuals sounds like a move in the right direction. Even Michael Carr-Gregg seems to support this move. However, we need to consider a little more about the fact that the majority of cyberbullying happens when children feel safe and anonymous in their own homes late at night - regardless of whether they name themselves or not. They are far less likely to be a digital bullying during the school day. Therefore, this being the main reason cited, I fear that the policy will be a failure.

Unfortunately, when we take away freedoms, there are unintended consequences that we should turn our minds to. This move to institute a state-wide (or country-wide?) ban on mobile phones in classrooms undermines the expertise that teachers demonstrate within the profession. Surely, the power to allow or disallow phones should lie with the individual teacher, with support from the school to enact their plans for their classroom. Isn't this covered under the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers? Standard descriptor 4.5.2 states that Teachers are to "Incorporate strategies to promote the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in learning and teaching" - how can they be trusted to do this with a mandated phone ban?

Teachers do use mobile phones productively in class. There are countless ways that a teacher can engage with students using a mobile phones, whether it is through students creating a video to respond to some content or simply to participate in a kahoot online quiz. It's not all roses though, there are challenges, but with support of the leadership in schools, surely we can navigate these. One of the biggest challenges is students contacting their parents throughout the school day by sms or even calling them. We need to partner with parents to stop this type of communication - things aren't necessarily that urgent.

How will students respond to the ban? The good kids will not have their phones, but I can assure you that many other students will find ways around the system. It doesn't take long or much creativity to recognise that students can take their phones into the toilets to get them away from teachers - potentially the last place we would want them to have their phones!

However, I can't finish an article like this without some advice for families, for what is a serious problem in our society, increasingly in our young people - that of cyberbullying. Schools have a place to educate students and their parents, but parents ultimately have the responsibility given that this usually happens outside school. I can offer two places for help in this area:

1. eSafety Commissioner has put out some useful resources in Australia on how to stop cyberbullying
2. CommonSense Media - you can see the video below, but there is a wealth of information for parents on how to be proactive (or reactive if necessary) in this area.