Victorian government bans school kids from using mobile phones

[mouncey2franklin]

(during school hours while at school)

Mobile phones will be banned from Victorian state primary and secondary schools under strict new rules aimed at tackling cyber bullying and distractions in the classroom.

The Victorian government has adopted one of the world's toughest stances on mobile phone use in schools and from the start of next year, students must switch off their devices and store them in lockers during school hours.

Mobile phones to be banned in state primary and secondary schools

The Victorian government has adopted one of the world's toughest stances on mobile phone use in schools.

www.theage.com.au

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Do you support it or are you against it?

 

[blackshadow]

I think it's an awesome idea.

 

[perthblue]

Did this need government intervention? I would have thought most schools already have their own rules regarding the use of phones, especially during class time.

 

[craigos]

This is an over-reaction. This is irresponsible. I have a child who suffers from extreme anxiety and her mobile phone is her safety blanket. I text with him throughout the day with different emoji's and gifs in order to keep her feeling good about himself. If she has to leave her phone in a cold, steel and dark place every day well then that it where his heart will also live.

Shame on you Daniel Andrews.

 

[Engimal v3]

Is this a new thing? In the school I went to (K-10) you were never allowed to have a phone at school, and I was in year 10 only 7 years ago.

 

[Power Raid]

I'm personally horrified by the amount of screen time kids have at school and home. Using ipads at school under the guise of "technology training" is absurd.

Ban phones and ban all technology other than 30 minutes a day.......including at home.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

fantastic idea.

Saves having to collect every device before class.

 

[NaturalDisaster]

This is an over-reaction. This is irresponsible. I have a child who suffers from extreme anxiety and her mobile phone is her safety blanket. I text with him throughout the day with different emoji's and gifs in order to keep her feeling good about himself. If she has to leave her phone in a cold, steel and dark place every day well then that it where his heart will also live.

Shame on you Daniel Andrews.

I know you’re taking the piss but there’s actually people who say s**t like this.

I call bullshit every time because most of the time it would be just overbearing parents who cannot let go. Even the most anxious of teens don’t want their parents hassling them all day.

 

[Gralin]

clearly the government has caught wind of the How would you rate Daniel Andrew's performance as PM thread and this is pay back

 

[ZEV]

How exactly are they going to enforce the ban?

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

How exactly are they going to enforce the ban?

Confiscate phones on sight.

 

[Gough]

I'm in the this is probably a good idea camp. Without knowing exactly what sort of effect mobile phones are having kids education it's difficult to say for certain but I would imagine their use in school is one of the bigger problems facing educators and maybe a blanket ban is the best way is dealing with the problem. Time will tell.

 

[Xtreme]

Most schools would already have a no phone in class policy (that probably gets ignored/exploited by most teens).

I don't know what it will achieve long term, I don't see the rebellious teens giving up their phones willingly under the threat of them being confiscated!

 

[Roobs321]

In the early-mid 00s this always felt at risk of happening (there is a certain decorum norm to phone use in formal settings), and I expect that ALERT LEVEL has remained fairly steady ever since. I'm sure there would have been a lot of complaining back then, but things like iPods and even Game Boys had a bit more capability back then than the average phone did, so phones weren't as reliant as they are now.

Kids will still use phones at school obviously, just be more discreet about it, which is after all the intended effect. It might be one of those laws that looks a little extreme, but has the desired minimising effect. Some teachers will be more campaignery than others. I doubt it will work though (just look around many modern workplaces).

Teens will naturally go after any communicative medium which has the function of evading parental surveillance, so phones and ephemeral apps are naturally right up their alley for secretive exchanges, bullying and organising. Teens half a century ago would have done the same in essence.

 

[Jobe Watson]

Easy way to shift blame, I guess. Why blame mediocre teachers and a boring curriculum for falling education standards when you just blame it on students being distracted by their phones?

I'm sure 18-year-old high school students will appreciate being treated like little babies.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

apparently it’s as much to reduce bullying as help concentration.

Teachers can usually step in when there’s physical or verbal bullying as it’s clearly visible. When it’s text and social media messages being sent across the classroom, it’s a lot harder to pick up on.

 

[Scotland]

Good idea. Mobile phones were around when I was in high school but not that common. They were still pretty expensive and weren't nearly as powerful and fun as the smart phones we have now. Plus if you had one you'd probably only know a handful of people you could text (for 25c a pop on your $20 a month plan) so it wasn't that enticing. That being said, people still had them. I had a cheap shitty one and it sat in the bottom of my bag. If you brought one out during class the teacher would rightly tell you to put it away or they'd confiscate it and return it at a later date. Just because every kid over the age of about 3 now has an iPhone doesn't make that less valid.

 

[mouncey2franklin]

I'm sure 18-year-old high school students will appreciate being treated like little babies.

The same 18yo students who have to wear uniforms, do homework, and attend classes when the bell rings?

 

[Jobe Watson]

The same 18yo students who have to wear uniforms, do homework, and attend classes when the bell rings?

Isn't that pretty much what adult working life is?

 

[TJASTA]

Stupid idea tbh. It did not stop us, it won't stop other.

 

[Dav]

Yeah, can't imagine this will be a big thing. Don't see the point of government legislation on top of school policy, are the cops gonna rock up if you say no to your teacher asking for your phone?

 

[perthblue]

Is this a new thing?

people are straight up acting like kids were allowed to Snapchat and Instagram willy nilly during class time before today

 

[NaturalDisaster]

This should be at the discretion of schools not the government.

And lol at it being a cyber bullying preventative measure. Are they going to ban them using Facebook etc at home as well?

 

[Jobe Watson]

This should be at the discretion of schools not the government.

And lol at it being a cyber bullying preventative measure. Are they going to ban them using Facebook etc at home as well?

Everyone knows that cyber-bullying only occurs between the hours of 8:30am and 3:30pm.

 

[Silent Alarm]

I find it crazy how kids are openly allowed to text on their phones. The omnipresence has just made them give up. Ah well, their loss. They all rack up 250 likes for their shitty photos and don't punch on with each other in the yard because they know it'll hurt their social media presence.

Back in my day you had to master the no-look text. With the old tap-three-times-for-a-B flip phones. Chicks talked smack about each other, there was segregation, you'd take your festering anger out in a jumper punch during king of the pack. And you got home and chatted to chicks from nearby school on MSN.

The computer geek hid away a Halo file on the intranet system. We were all year 12 or so and had an allocated hour or two of study a week. I'd constantly abuse it and not go to shitty classes and just hang out in the library, getting absolutely pwn3d while camping. I was so s**t at it. Fun times though.