“The decision whether or not to allow mobile phones in classrooms should no longer be left to teachers and schools,” says Erik Ex, a history teacher at Amsterdam’s Cygnus Gymnasium. “Politicians need to draw a line and ban phones in the classroom. And preferably the whole school. Teachers and students need clarity.”

former stops his LinkedIn page a list of schools that are taking action. He wants to show that he believes that current politics must change and hopes that The Hague will intervene.

“Right now it’s up to the school and the teacher to decide how they use cell phones,” says the Ex. “The problem is that many teachers are inexperienced or have little authority. This is partly due to a shortage of teachers. There are a lot of teachers everywhere who aren’t qualified. A lot of teachers are tempted to turn a blind eye to students busy on their phones during class because it doesn’t feel like confrontational.”

‘Clarity is needed’

As a result, resistance among students to hand in their smartphone or put it in their phone pocket at the door is spreading like an oil stain throughout the school, says Ex. “Thirteen- or fourteen-year-olds need clarity. They don’t understand that they are allowed to carry their cell phones with them for math and not for history. Then you enter into discussion in all matters. ‘That’s allowed,’ they say. And then, ‘What gives you the right to take my phone?'”

A great deal of valuable teaching time is wasted in this way, he says. The quality of education is declining. “Teachers are busy with those mobile phones at the start of every lesson. That’s at the expense of quality. More and more students are having trouble reading. That says enough.”

The damage to students’ social development can be even worse, Ex thinks. “You also learn to communicate with other people and make friends at school. But students bury themselves in the phone during breaks. Especially with students who are a little more difficult to follow socially. My heart breaks when I see them bent over looking at their screens. Because that’s precisely what they have to do with human contact.”

school without smartphone

Ex’s call seems to be making many schools think. This was published yesterday University of Amstelveen one answer: “Today we inform the students and parents of Amstelveen College that from next year we will be a school without smartphones.”

According to the school, ‘the balance has now been lost’. “During class, we see students get distracted by their mobile phone, even if it’s in their bag. Students are constantly looking for ways to check their mobile phone. This comes at the expense of attention to the lesson and is disruptive.”

‘Push in the right direction’

Earlier this month, Minister Wiersma indicated that he was considering legal action, as he saw many schools ‘struggling’ with the issue. He will speak to various parties on education and wants to make a decision before the summer.

With his appeal on social media, Ex wants to give the minister an “additional push” to introduce the ban. According to him, the boardrooms of many schools hesitate or do not intervene, while “a large majority” of Dutch teachers yearn for a clear policy.

But the VO Council (the Association of Secondary Education Schools) is against an outright ban, says spokeswoman Linda Zeegers. “With a ban, you completely exclude the possibility of using the smartphone in education. In our opinion, that should still be possible. Teachers and schools must have space to make their own decisions.”

“It depends on the type of topic, the objective of the lesson and the type of student. A classroom lesson is different from an educational picture in which students carry out an innovative project together. Smartphones and applications are also can use to make education more fun. and interesting. Many teachers also want to teach their students how to handle it responsibly.”

Discussion with students

Erik-Jan Hakvoort, a history teacher at GSG Guido in Arnhem, is also against a total ban. However, the ban on the lower classes has been in effect at his school for a few weeks. “Students in these classes were using the phone too often in a negative way. Photos and videos were being taken during class and without the other person’s permission. That too often led to bullying and social unrest.”

But things are different in the senior years, Hakvoort says: “With 14-year-olds you have the distraction, but not the social unrest or bullying. So I don’t think a ban is the right way to go for these students.” . I think it’s best for this group to make the issue negotiable. I have had discussions about it with my classes. This way they start to think about the frameworks and their own responsibility. My classes decided to leave the phones in the bag during class.”

Hakvoort supports his colleague Erik Ex’s call to create clarity in all schools: “If schools don’t do anything, it will cause too much upset. Today’s apps already demand a lot of attention, with all the notifications and sounds, and that goes with the applications of the future they will only get worse.

drifting politics

The VO council also supports the call for clarity of Ex. Zeegers, spokesperson: “We hear many schools say that it is necessary to formulate a clear policy for each school. And above all: to enforce that policy. It is difficult for teachers and students students when the rules aren’t clear. It makes the situation difficult.” for the whole school to work with him.”

Paul Kirschner, emeritus professor of educational psychology, is fully in favor of the ban: “In all schools, as far as I’m concerned. In universities, too.”

According to Kirschner, the inevitable distraction comes at the expense of learning performance. “I have investigated that it costs from 1 to 1.5 points, on a scale of 10. That already happens when you get distracted several times during an hour of study, for example by a message on WhatsApp. Now that’s normal for someone who gets a 9 it wouldn’t be an immediate problem, but it would be for the large group who gets a 6.5 or a 7″.

condescending or necessary

The reason for the lower numbers is simple, says the professor: “People just can’t multitask.”

He calls the vacillation of politicians and many school boards ‘a typical Dutch disease’. “We easily fear that it would be condescending to ban something. But it would be good for the quality of our education. I am also convinced that most teachers are in favor of the ban.”

You can see how the measures work in a school in this video:

‘Six out of ten parents for ban’

Establishment Parents and Education among 500 parents conducted a survey among 500 respondents of the National Parent Panel: according to the results, 61 percent of parents support the ban.

A quarter of parents are opposed to introducing a ban. This group believes that it is important that children learn to use their smartphones sensibly. A complete ban on phones in schools may have less support: more than half of parents reject this idea. More than a third are in favor of a total ban on the entire school.