Mobile phones. Does this issue need the government to get involved? Is it even a major issue in schools to begin with? The government have cited a survey where 29% of respondents said 'phones were used in an inappropriate way in some or all lessons'. But surely this comes down to school and college policy? This is something that can be dealt with by the teacher themselves or those that are monitoring corridors etc. etc. Am I missing something here? One would have thought the government would spend their time in a more useful way helping to prevent access to offensive and upsetting content or apps. Mr Barton, General Secretary of the Association of Schools and Colleges (ASCL), suggests that government should focus on "things that matter - funding, special needs, the need for us to be able to stop crumbling schools... all of those things are the big issues for parents rather than something about mobile phones in schools yet again." We're inclined to agree. A mobile phone that is suitable for under-16s may well be a better solution, as suggested by Esther Ghey. Protecting our children from harmful content is surely the priority here? Not only that, but mobile phones can actually be useful. I, myself use Kahoot, quizzes, polls and surveys. Students in my lesson will sometimes research content on the internet for a particular activity or topic and they can access electronic resources I have uploaded to the shared media platform. An outright ban is not the answer, and once again it feels like the government have missed the real issue here. Or have we got this completely wrong? Have your say in the comments section or the Forum.
(Getty Images, courtesy of the BBC)
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