No smartphone ban could be extended from primary to all schools. Do you agree?

2011abc

Don’t you just love when ‘management ‘ tell you not to be looking at your phone in school and then send 6-8 emails requiring action / response before lunchtime ?! Seriously though the phone ( and now AI ?) will be the death of education .Give someone a few bits of change in a shop /petrol station etc now to pay for something and it’s like you’ve asked them to solve a quadratic equation .And sure half the accidents on the road must be linked to them now .Anyway back to my endless scrolling …:-)

gaiscioch

Well, Stephen Donnelly, in whose constituency Greystones is, isn't holding back today in his opposition to phones in school. I have to say I agree with him and he's right to focus on the evidence of their negative impact on development. That evidence is only likely to build up as overuse by kids becomes undeniable.

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2023/08/31/call-for-mobile-phone-ban-in-schools-due-to-evidence-of-damage-to-young-people/

byhookorbycrook

I would have agreed with you 5 years ago . But most schools would have WhatsApp groups for work , depending on your role .

In a big primary school, staff phones are definitely needed:

If a child with additional needs goes into meltdown and another adult is needed to supervise other children while the child regulated themselves .

Out on yard , a child is badly hurt , teacher supervising the area can’t leave and would need help.

School software such as Aladdin relays need to parents and staff , some updates needing immediate reaction .

If the only phone in the school is in the office , what happens when 6 staff members rock up with an injured child .

Football or other after school activities are very complex and parents may have to be contacted asap .

Treppen

No wayyyyy id go near using WhatsApp for work, except the odd teacher or two I'd gossip with 😁.

Anything work related is through teams.

Also we've had legal issues over nasty WhatsApp groups so it's a big no.

Parents WhatsApp groups are kind of necessary but the ones I'm on are kept to bare minimum with little to no ranting.

Weve gone 100% ban now (except for teachers of course). Makes things a lot easier and less bullying etc. You get the moans from students but &£#&£#&£# em

Bobtheman

You can't ban adults from having phones in work.

At Secondary kids use phones for goggle classroom plus they are a godsend when supervising a class.

They occupy kids during breaks.

Given the department don't give a **** about discipline keep them

gaiscioch

Unsurprisingly, the decidedly pedestrian Norma Foley bottled it when it came to deciding on a blanket ban on mobiles in primary schools. If the State hasn't the balls to do it for primary, there's not a hope of the phone chaos ending in secondary. She's going to publish "guidelines" when she knows schools decide their own phone policies anyway so her "guidelines" are just more pointless Department of Education waffle of the kick-the-can-down-the-road variety. Do schools not have enough bullshít "guidelines" as a result of political cowardice?

Roll on all the weak principals who will just follow the loudest voices from anxious/moron parents who panic if their children cannot be contacted at all times.

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2023/10/27/no-blanket-smartphone-ban-planned-for-schools-department-of-education-says/

Treppen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121308976#Comment_121308976

I think people are misunderstanding the powers the department have over schools.

The vast majority of schools are private organisations which receive government money.

Norma issuing blanket phone bans, is like me shaking my fist at a cloud.

SharkMX

Wont be too long now til all use of phones inside is banned. You will only be allowed to use your phone where you are allowed to smoke.

:)

Might actually be a good thing though to be hones :) :)

am_zarathustra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121309470#Comment_121309470

Spoken like someone who certainly doesn't teach teenagers or understand how curricula work.

It's hard to see a blanket ban coming in, the lack of any control, like you said Treppen, is a massive barrier to this (and many other things)

The DofE can really only mess with the curricula, it has no other real power......this might be half the reason we get these half baked "reforms". If they could ban phones and get votes that might stop the LC reform 😀

A few more studies conclusively showing that academic achievement rises in schools with bans could tip the scales for lots of quantitatively focused management.

Treppen

Into released a report today on teacher shortages. Just goes to show how important Norma considers her role.

afkasurfjunkie

What an absolute waste of government time and resources.

byhookorbycrook

But, but, but, Greystones etc. etc. No mention of the ICT grant that disappeared to pay for school books, no mention of the subbing crisis, the total breakdown of AON etc. etc.

Treppen

Simple reason this was announced. INTO brought out report on teacher shortage at the same time minister decides to invent phone restrictions in schools.

I realise now why the minister was probably were forcing schools to open autism classes so that there would be a ready supply of teachers to sub

ethical

There are pros and cons! Very many,infact.

There is probably no great need for students in Primary schools to have phones.They are still minors and a teacher can contact a parent via the School Secretary if there is an urgent reason to do so.

At second level,I would not be so sure that a blanket ban would solve every outcome.We are well aware that the students are still in our care,we do our best for them,teach them,advise them,expect them to adhere to school rules etc.There are some schools that have the 'pouches' where the phones are stored during class time. Its OK but means that another layer of 'management' is required to make this run effectively and efficiently.

Many students need their phones after school especially if they are going onto work for a few hours.They may need a parent to pick them up etc.A total ban,speaking with a parent and teacher hat on, would not be good here!

As regards teachers having phones I reckon its a prerequisite! How many matches and extra curricular activities would not be arranged if teacher did not have their phone during non class contact time.(Do not get me started on Management and their insistence on ticking boxes and filling in 'forms' by return and wondering why you haven't done it....and of course it's because you have been in class all day!)

Unfortunately the Irish have a problem about being adult as regards many rules,and some ruin it for the majority of law abiding people. Norma,our Education Minister, I'm sure has many other areas where she could tackle and get a better result.

Keeping things simple,adhering to school rules (of which 'phone use' is part of ) see us with 'laws' in place already to tackle this issue.

Alex86Eire

We've two factor authentication on all logins so if you don't have your phone on you, you can't access your school email/drive etc on any of the school computers.

I'd have presumed all other schools were the same?

byhookorbycrook

Primary teachers need phones, I can't understand why this is even up for consideration . If we are out on yard duty and need to summon help, we need to be able to do so. If there's a change to the timetable in primary, we need to know. Primary schools have changed in an enormous way over the last 30 years. They are exceptionally busy places now. Classes no longer stay in their room from 9-3, they are accessing all kinds of co-curricular activities. Extra-curricular activities have also increased.

The range of needs in a primary school has widened very considerably . SNAs need to be able to contact teachers, they are no longer assigned to a particular child. If something happens while the SNA is elsewhere, we need to be able to contact each other. We can access contact details for parents through our phones and send notes through Aladdin. Likewise , parents can message the school through the app.are