There is an ongoing debate about children’s access to mobile phones and particularly if these devices must be allowed in schools. Some schools have policies banning phones in class because of potential for distraction, while others promote the use of smartphones as a learning tool.

Smartphones do have wonderful learning potential as kids now carry the world in their palm literally and can access all information. Some children can handle the multitasking that using phones in school would require; for others, the smartphone is almost always a distraction. Some can “switch” attention between the phone as an entertainment device and as a learning tool; for others, the phone’s academic potential is routinely ignored.

In its defence, mobile phone is also a means to stay connected with friends and trends on social media but most importantly it enable parents to keep a check on their children’s wellbeing in an increasingly uncertain environment.

But should they be allowed to have them in school?

It is a question that has kept many wondering but now economists claim to have an answer. For parents who want to boost their children’s academic prospects, it is no.

A 2015 study from the London School of Economics for the first time provided hard evidence that banning phones in school boosts student achievement. The effect of banning mobile phones from school premises adds up to the equivalent of an extra week’s schooling over a pupil’s academic year, according to the research.

The study found that, in schools that banned mobile phones, student scores on standardized tests went up 6.4 percent on average. Lower performing students benefited the most from phone bans.

Mobile phones now are a ubiquitous part of a teenager’s life, but given the detrimental effect, schools must deal with the issue of their negative effects on especially easily-distracted students. Ignoring the presence of phones is something that schools shouldn’t be doing.

Mobile usage in schools must be restricted or at best allowed only under structured use. Lest we forget, there was once a time not too long ago when schools functioned smoothly oblivious to the dawn of a ‘cellphone era’. It is time to reset the clock once again.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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