New Zealand’s new conservative government has announced an ambitious plan to ban cellphone use in schools as part of its first 100-day agenda. The plan is part of a broader 49-point action plan that aims to address declining achievement rates in New Zealand schools.
The proposed ban on cellphones in schools is seen as a practical way to improve student learning and focus. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that phones are “incredibly distracting and disturbing and they are getting in the way of student achievement”. He cited examples of schools where students leave phones at reception and then retrieve them at the end of the day. Other schools require the phones to be off and put away in bags all day.
“What are common sense practical ways to improve student learning? One of them is to actually ban mobile phones,” Luxon said.
“What we’re hearing from parents and teachers and what we’re seeing in the research is that phones are incredibly distracting and disturbing and they are getting in the way of student achievement.”
He pointed to examples of students leaving phones at reception and then retrieving them at the end of the day.
“Other schools actually drop them into pouches in their homerooms, [at] other schools the phones must be off and put away in bags and they’re away all day.”
Countries like Australia, the UK and Canada already had similar bans in place which worked, Luxon said.
“We’ve seen that in Australia where they’ve implemented something similar in all the states … and it’s worked well.”
When asked why there was a need for a ban and another layer of compliance when some schools were already enforcing a no-phones policy, Luxon said he had been told by principals that a nationwide ban would help.
“Not all schools are doing it and actually some principals have come in and said ‘it makes our life easier if you come in and actually do that as a nationwide ban’.”
The ban is part of a larger effort to address declining achievement rates in New Zealand schools. More than half of year 8 students are behind expectations in maths, science, and writing, according to the National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement. Luxon believes that by eliminating unnecessary disturbances and distractions, students can focus more on their schoolwork during their precious classroom time.
While the ban would apply to all schools – primary, intermediate, and secondary – schools would have the autonomy to decide how to practically enforce the ban.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said it was schools’ boards of trustees who should be making the decision on whether to ban phones.
“Schools have the ability to ban smartphones or use of cellphones in school now, they don’t need Christopher Luxon’s permission to do that,” he said.
“Those schools that have banned cell phones I’ve fully supported them previously as minister of education and as prime minister … those school boards of trustees represent the parent community, they can make their own decisions, they don’t need central government dictating to them what they should be doing or how they should be doing it.”
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