Not in the classrooms, not in the hallways, not in the gym, not in the laboratory, not on the soccer field, not in the bathrooms, not in the secretary's office, and of course not in the principal's office. The British Government is considering completely prohibiting the use of mobile phones in English schools, without exceptions and at all educational stages.
The idea, raised by the Minister of Education, Gillian Keegan, at the annual conference of the Conservative Party in Manchester, has been received with enormous skepticism by the union of teachers and educators. Not because the objective is not valid, but because of the enormous difficulties in implementing the measure. And the fact that the vast majority of schools already have their own provisions in that regard.
In order to clearly differentiate its policies from those of the Labor opposition ahead of next year's elections, Rishi Sunak's Tory government has used its congress to launch a barrage of initiatives in all fields. In educational matters, it proposes establishing an English baccalaureate, making mathematics compulsory until the age of 18 and banning cell phones, in line with the recommendations of a United Nations report that says that they encourage bullying and sexual harassment, harm stability emotional problems of children and adolescents, and negatively affect learning.
“The ban suggested by the Government would pose more problems than solutions,” says Paul Whiteman, general secretary of Britain's main teachers' union. It would be a police-type measure, difficult to implement except by frisking each and every student or making them go through security as if it were an airport. Many parents also feel the need to be in constant contact with their children in case an emergency occurs.”
Although no one denies the existence of a behavioral crisis in schools, the main concern of teachers is not the motives but the physical and verbal abuse by students, cuts, the endemic lack of funds, the lack of support for children with mental disorders, lack of staff, inequality and the increasing level of poverty.
“What the Government is doing is hiding these substantial issues, which are its responsibility after 13 consecutive years in power and an unhealthy obsession with austerity, and attracting attention with a populist measure such as the total ban on mobile phones in educational centers, which would not solve the underlying problems,” says Geoff Barton, of the Association of School Leaders.
This is the conservatives' third attempt to implement the measure. Only last February the Government gave up on this because it considered that the schools themselves were already doing enough at their own risk to limit the use of mobile phones on their campuses, and therefore "greater intervention was unnecessary." Now, with the elections closer and the need for headlines, he returns to the fray with a plan that would only be applicable in England, but not in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, where education is a regional competence.
