Mobile phones banned in South Australian high schools

A ban on mobile phones has been introduced at 20 high schools in South Australia as students return to class for term one.The move has brought the total number of schools participating in the phone ban to 45 – or a quarter of the state’s high schools.All South Australian secondary schools will have to implement* the ban before the end of term two.

The move comes amid a nationwide push, with a number of schools in NSW and Queensland already enforcing the rules.Victorian state primary and secondary schools also banned mobile phones in 2020 to tackle cyber-bullying and reduce distraction in the classroom.Victorian students must switch off their phones and store them in their lockers from the start of the school day until the final bell.Seaview High School in southern Adelaide is among those to implement South Australia’s ban.The school has provided all 1300 students with a lockable lead-lined pouch which they are required to lock their phone inside during school hours. The measure is costing $30,000.Students can only retrieve their phone from the locked pouches from stations at the school’s perimeter* after the bell at the end of the day.

Other South Australian schools that have opted out of using the lockable pouches are asking students to switch off their phones or put them in flight mode while they keep them stored away inside lockers or bags.South Australian Education Minister Blair Boyer said a trial of the pouches at Port Lincoln High School proved popular, with students admitting they were better able to control their phone addictions.

Former federal opposition education spokesperson Tanya Plibersek said she supported any move that got kids to spend less time on the phone.“It is distracting for kids to have their phones with them in class,” Ms Plibersek told Sunrise on Monday morning.“Teachers are catching kids watching YouTube videos when they should be doing their maths. I think it is a sensible idea.”The introduction of the South Australian school phone ban came days after NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns suggested a similar ban would be “up and running in 2023”.

“(Putting) a ban in place should be quite straightforward, because it actually enables* teachers to make a distinction* and say: ‘You are not allowed to have your mobile phone’,” he said.“They don’t have to decipher* whether that phone is being used to research an algebra* problem or to send a text message to a friend.”

https://www.kidsnews.com.au/humanities/mobile-phones-banned-in-south-australian-high-schools/news-story/836f3937da6adfac9e371c360064fc00