Bans on mobile phones in schools are useless!

Schools handle the use of smartphones very differently. In some school buildings, controlled and sensible use is permitted, while in others the device is prohibited, sometimes even locked in a box. Many parents do not think a mobile phone ban is in keeping with the times and consider rigid regulations to be outdated. Why is that?

At first glance, there are many good reasons for this. Strict bans can prevent classic problems such as the constant use of smartphones, cyberbullying incidents during school hours or secretly filming the teacher during lessons. School may even be the last place in the everyday lives of children and young people where they are «offline».

As young people are often impulse-driven in their great enthusiasm for mobile phones, it certainly does no harm if they learn to postpone and regulate their needs when using a smartphone. This allows pupils to find more peace and quiet and concentrate better on their lessons.

Many accept a ban, others are against relaxing the existing rules. «The ban has helped me a lot, I used to be far too attached to my mobile phone,» a year 9 pupil confessed to me in one of my workshops. However, such a ban should apply to everyone and not just those who are in favour of it.

Mobile phone rules or mobile phone bans?

However, even teachers find it difficult to refrain from doing so. «Smartphones are banned at our school,» said an angry mum during one of my presentations. «But what kind of role model is a teacher who constantly plays around on their smartphone during a class test?»

Admittedly, there are many good arguments in favour of «mobile phone-free schools». But children don't learn how to use smartphones sensibly by being banned. It is the school's job to make children fit for life. At the end of their school years, they should be well equipped to find their place in society. However, the example of the smartphone clearly shows the rapid pace at which our society is changing as a result of digitalisation. For this reason, using a smartphone is an important cultural technique that needs to be learnt.

There will be numerous professions that we don't even know today.

Similar to the cultural techniques of arithmetic, reading and writing, there is hardly any other educational institution as suitable for teaching these skills as schools. Even now, there are hardly any professions that can do without digital technology. Numerous new professions will follow that we are not even aware of today.

The smartphone should therefore be used in lessons across all subjects in order to fundamentally change the students' attitude towards the device: away from pure consumption and towards a useful tool, from research to the documentation of an experiment in physics or chemistry to the presentation of a lecture.

This involves questioning their own media behaviour and teaching pupils to take personal responsibility. If they create their own material with their smartphone, they also learn to look behind the construct of the respective medium - film, e-book, photo-novel-like material. Nevertheless, schools must set up rules for the use of mobile phones - and ensure that they are adhered to.

In my seminars, I meet many teachers who quickly feel overwhelmed by the task of media education. On the one hand, teachers often don't know enough about digital issues, and on the other hand, parents should not hand over all educational problems to the school.

Parents feel the same way as teachers. Many feel overwhelmed by technological developments.

The smartphone as a useful tool?

«I have no influence on what goes on at home,» explained one teacher recently. That may be true, but it is not their job to protect pupils from excessive media consumption. It's more about the inner attitude of teachers and schools to view the smartphone not as the devil's device, but as a useful tool.

In my opinion, teachers' attitudes towards new media have changed very positively overall. The times when they rejected computers purely out of fear of technology and loss of authority are fortunately over. Today, almost all teachers own a computer, smartphone or tablet. This ensures acceptance.

Today, teachers tend to fail due to technical hurdles. The conditions at schools are sometimes suboptimal. The equipment is often outdated or broken. In addition, teachers urgently need to be relieved of the burden of maintaining the infrastructure. It is unacceptable for them to spend their time on activities that actually fall under the remit of an IT department. And many teachers would also like to see significantly more training in this area.

It is not easy for schools as an institution to keep up with the pace of technological development. Many teachers feel rather driven by the many innovations. Parents feel the same way. Let's not forget that we adults have an extremely reliable compass: our values. They are our yardstick, not the technology.