Springwood High School in New South Wales, Australia, implemented a complete phone ban for all students during school hours in 2019. The results were significant. Applauding the initiative, Rachel Chappell, a mother of two and founder of a Sydney community group for parents, noted, “It’s about recess and lunch – making sure they’re not just in groups of friends scrolling. Imagine if they were doing TikToks in the bathroom at lunch …Kids are there to be learning. They’re on their laptops and iPads during class time – they’ve got a lot of screen time.”
Even though the initiative looks excellent in parents’ eyes, there are some hidden downfalls to the complete smartphone ban. A complete smartphone ban is like fixing a water leak with a temporary installation. If the school is working towards helping students reduce screen time, it’s the habit that needs to change. Encouraging healthy screen habits is key to the school’s success in reducing overall screen time. In the words of Van Badham, “You can’t enforce a ban on mobile phones in the classroom – we should teach kids to hate them instead.”
Also, statistics don’t support the success of these actions. In 2020, a study was conducted in Sweden, a country famous for its modern and advanced education system. The study found that a complete ban on smartphones made no significant difference in the student’s grades.
In light of these arguments, it is essential to look into the advantages and disadvantages of banning smartphones in educational organizations. Let’s explore the positives first.
The Advantages of Banning Smartphones in Schools & Colleges
There are many advantages of banning smartphones in educational organisations. Even if the bans don’t give us any tangible results like better grades or performance in co-curricular activities, a phone-free campus will help the students build social skills which will be of great worth in their adult lives. Factors like these are not quantifiable. When we critically analyse the advantages of a phone-free campus, the following 5 points will come on top.
1. Better focus on learning the essentials
Smartphones are not created with a design to enhance the focus of their users. Constant notification chimes and lights are an obvious distraction to anyone who is using a smartphone. Schools and Colleges are the last places to lose attention and focus because it’s the learning phase that will shape a student’s future capabilities in the workplace. In the case of critical resource personnel like doctors, engineers, safety professionals, etc, learning without distractions is essential since each part of their learning phase is vital.
This is more true in the lives of school students, who will be learning the basic concepts of science, mathematics, and other critical subjects during their school days. If they are constantly distracted while working in groups or in person, it will severely affect their ability to learn and understand important concepts, which will act as foundations for their future student journey as well as life. Studies show that having smartphones around can make it harder to focus and learn. This is why creating spaces without phones can be helpful for better learning.
2. Supports personality development & social collaboration
We humans are social animals, and social skills and teamwork propel an individual’s life ahead. Schools and colleges are basic elements of our social environment where young minds are first exposed to interpersonal connections. Educational institutions should provide venues for their students to interact, collaborate and develop as individuals. Smartphones pose a threat to this same advantage of offline educational institutions. Banning smartphones improves interaction between students, which will help them develop emotional and communication skills and help them throughout their lives. Smartphone texts are a convenient mode of communication but will severely hinder the development of interpersonal skills.
3. Helps students to fully experience the campus
Smartphones, or for that matter any electronic device, are portals for the students to be in sync with a virtual world. Social media, online news and short messaging services like Twitter connect them with a world which is open 24*7. Being aware of happenings is good, but it’s a matter of concern when they are ignorant or have no information about events happening in real life, sometimes a few blocks away.
Live school and college campuses host various programs and events for the holistic development of students, and they need to be present in total mind and body to enjoy all the experiences a physical campus provides. When smartphones are banned on campus, students are left with more time to explore various activities, clubs, events, and other formats of engaging in teamwork, which will foster a better experience for each learner.
4. Eliminates Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is a real threat that even adults face. Banning smartphones in educational institutions is a great way to eliminate the first steps of cyberbullying. How? Consider this example: Mariam and John got into a fight in school over a petty issue; both of these students had access to smartphones, and they immediately posted defamatory and negative information about each other on social media platforms because of the frustration that they experienced at that moment. It escalated from there and invited disciplinary actions on both of them, which they hadn’t anticipated.
Consider the same situation in a parallel where they had no smartphone access when the event happened. Yes, the situation is tense, but they will have time to cool off. This will give both of them time to reflect on the issue and sometimes to solve it, too. Also, time off will give them to take deliberate steps rather than impulsive actions, which will have severe future consequences.
This is just an example, but the story clearly helps us to see the two perspectives in which the presence of a smartphone can escalate things quickly.
Another matter to consider is that smartphones are equipped with high-resolution cameras these days. In the case of smartphones like the Samsung S Ultra series, the zoom function can capture images of objects and persons hundreds of meters away. The presence of such advanced imaging technology in a school or college campus may give students fear of capturing pictures that are not appropriate.
5. Promotes Sports & Physical Activity on campus
On top of all the benefits mentioned before, a campus without smartphones and digital distractions fosters an environment where students engage in physical activities and outdoor games. You might have also heard old timers talking about the “good old days” when they had no phones or video games and the playgrounds were filled with active young ones.
This is no joke; when digital screens are away, students will explore more options to kill boredom or find fun. Engaging in sports is not only beneficial to overall personal development but also significantly enhances mental health. Games will also improve concentration, teamwork, interaction and resilience.
It is a well-known fact that digital detox only contributes to better mental health and happiness. Games and sports will allow the students to interact with students from other classes or departments. It also paves the way for the students to pick up a hobby or sometimes a career in sports or athletics.
Disadvantages of a complete ban on smartphone in a campus
Even though there are multiple benefits and causes to creating a smartphone-free campus, this move has significant disadvantages. Some of the key disadvantages are as follows. There may also be other challenges based on where the educational institution is from, the economic, social and political environment, etc.
1. A complete smartphone ban is a ban on students accessing the unlimited wealth of resources available online
No physical libraries can match with the resources available online. When an institution completely bans smartphones on its campus, it also makes it nearly impossible for students to access this huge wealth of resources. One may argue that students can use library computers to do so, but it is not a practical solution, especially in the case of an institution with a huge number of students.
Students can use a smartphone for a quick fact check to access online libraries which house content in bulk to help them learn more about the syllabus they are working on. Also, they can save on costly college library printouts for working on assignments and projects. When smartphones are banned, it’s a ban on accessing these features modern technology offers and makes the overall learning process slower and more traditional. It’s not a recommended approach, especially for developing and underdeveloped countries where a large number of well-trained and informed graduates are required to develop the economy.
2. Additional cost of purchasing and maintaining tablets and computers
When smartphones are banned, students will have to rely on alternatives such as purchasing a tablet or a laptop computer. This puts additional financial strain on the budget of the students’ families, thus making education expensive.
This move is also not sustainable. A student may already have a smartphone, but when they buy a new device exclusively for school, it creates an unnecessary carbon footprint. Also, the student may use it less and may eventually not even use it after graduation.
3. Unintended Consequences & Resentment from the Students
The move to ban smartphones may have unintended consequences. For example, consider the situation of a female student. She may be using a smartphone to communicate with her family and friends to and from school. The family also enjoys the peace of mind about her safety through services like shared location. This is very critical in countries where there are high rates of crime, violence and political issues. A complete ban on smartphones may have unintended consequences in the case of students like her.
Another possible issue is the resentment from the student. If the students are already enjoying the benefits of having a smartphone, a sudden strike on those privileges may make them feel less trusted in the matter of safely handling electronic gadgets. This may invite resentment from the students.
4. The cost of implementing the policy
The school or college will have to incur costs to implement a complete smartphone ban policy. This includes additional staff to monitor the bags and lockers of the students, visitors and other members of the campus. Additionally, lockers, pouches and storage rooms with always-on CCTV are required to store the smartphones of students and visitors.
All these tasks are really expensive and can significantly influence the yearly budget of the school or college. This amount can be spent on student well-being, research, and development.
Conclusion
Let’s conclude this blog with the key takeaway that a decision to ban smartphones in any educational organisation is a task that should not be taken lightly. If the ban is implemented, there are obvious advantages, but the decision-makers should also consider the potential drawbacks of their final decision.
What we recommend is a well-thought-out plan for managing smartphone usage on campus rather than a cent per cent ban on smartphones.
Ultimately, it’s the student who should voluntarily decide to use the smartphone less. A better approach will be to educate the students on the shortfalls of using electronic devices more and the benefits of digital detox. As it’s rightly said, people choose habits, and habits lead life to success or regrets. Let’s help students build the right habits and mindsets.