Pros and cons when schools restrict students from using phones

Recently, a series of schools in localities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Tuyen Quang, etc. have asked students not to use their phones during class, or even bring them to class. This move comes in the context of more and more studies warning of the negative impacts of mobile phone abuse on children. Strengthening the management of mobile phone use in schools is no longer a local or national issue, but a global one.

Lesson 1: A day at school without a phone

Away from the phone, have a real break

A recent observation by a reporter from PNVN Newspaper at Huy Van Secondary School (Dong Da District, Hanoi) during recess shows that the schoolyard is bustling with games and physical activities of students. Groups of male students play soccer and basketball while female students play badminton and shuttlecock. Some groups gather to joke with each other or sit reading stories, laughing and talking animatedly.

Joking and running around with her friends in the schoolyard, Nguyen Khanh Vy, a student in class 8D at Huy Van Secondary School, said that before the school banned students from bringing cell phones to school, the schoolyard was quite quiet during recess.

“At that time, most of the students sat in class looking at their phones. The boys played games and the girls surfed social networks. Only a few students interacted with each other, the rest were glued to their phone screens. Because they had smartphones, many students did not have the need to talk or share with each other, they were classmates but quite distant,” Khanh Vy said.

Since the school banned students from bringing phones to school, the students have had a proper break time. “Before, phones were our whole world. Now, during break time, we invite each other to the schoolyard to run around and play. We study more focused. Learning in class is therefore more effective,” Khanh Vy shared.

For Vu Doan Minh Kiet, another 8th grader at Huy Van Secondary School, the smartphone used to be his “inseparable companion” at home and at school. Like his male classmates, Minh Kiet likes to play games.

Before, during recess, I often sat in class, engrossed in online games. So when there was a rule prohibiting bringing phones to school, Minh Kiet and many of his friends felt… shocked.

“The first few days of school without my phone, I felt very suffocated, my hands were useless because I had nothing to do. However, after a few days, we invited each other to the school yard to play badminton, soccer, basketball, shuttlecock…

We communicate with each other more. Recess is now truly recess and when it comes to class, I no longer feel lethargic and tired like before,” Minh Kiet said.

Students of Huy Van Secondary School (Hanoi) during recess

Increase student engagement

Affirming that banning students from bringing cell phones to school is the right policy, bringing great benefits to students as well as the school, teacher Bui Thi Lan Huong (Huy Van Secondary School) said: "Previously, when students were allowed to bring cell phones to class, during class, many students secretly used their phones, leading to not being able to concentrate on the lecture.

She had to remind students, interrupting class time. Since the school had a regulation prohibiting students from bringing phones to school, these problems have been resolved. The children interact more with each other in class, during recess as well as other collective activities organized by the school."

The ban on students bringing phones to school was implemented by Huy Van Secondary School from the end of the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year, before the Hanoi Department of Education and Training issued a document prohibiting students from using phones in class.

Mr. Le Hoai Quan, Vice Principal of Huy Van Secondary School, said that in the end of the first semester last year, the school's Board of Directors asked for opinions from the heads of the parents' committees of each grade and received their agreement and support.

During the implementation process to the classes, the school also received some questions from parents such as: The house is far away, parents want their children to use the phone to contact for pick-up and drop-off. The school has proposed 2 options.

First, the school installs a landline phone in the security room and makes that phone number public. Students can call their parents via the landline. Second, children can bring a phone with a calling function (not a smartphone), but there must be a commitment between the parents and the school.

This school year is the second year that Huy Van Secondary School has implemented the regulation banning students from bringing cell phones to school. According to teacher Le Hoai Quan, the most obvious effect is that during class, teachers do not have to remind students who lose concentration.

When not using their phones, students connect directly with each other. To create more activities for students during recess, the school organized folk games, sports competitions such as badminton, basketball or folk dance practice.

Next post: “We support but…”

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/loi-va-hai-khi-truong-siet-hoc-sinh-dung-dien-thoai-20241108163038896.htm