The recent debate on the use of mobile phones in schools has felt somewhat one-sided, with the vast majority of coverage about this issue falling squarely into the camp of demonising phone use without much being heard on the counter argument.
Add a few sector heavyweight voices and the odd celebrity into the mix, together with some high-octane middle-class handwringing, and you’ve got a very one-sided argument.
The bottom line is that decisions about mobile phones should be school based. In our trust, all of our secondaries determine their own approach based on what best fits the needs of their pupils.
‘Relaxed’ approach
In the secondary school that has what might be viewed as the most “relaxed” approach to mobiles, the policy developed as a direct result of a significant increase in issues arising from social media use out of school hours. This included online bullying, the sharing of inappropriate images and the accessing of extremist material from influencers and other web-based sources.
To address this, rather than put an outright ban in place during school hours, which clearly would have no impact on phones being used outside the school gates, the school took what I see as a smarter strategic move to look at the behaviour around the use of mobiles.
Social media training
They introduced a programme of education that offers specific support on managing social media. This includes teaching about cyber-bullying, managing pupils’ online world and how to protect them from extremism.
Pastoral staff were given additional training on how to investigate and manage incidents that arise from social media use.
As a result, the number of incidents that are reported to school staff has dropped by 80 per cent and the vast majority of pupils report feeling safer in school. Most importantly, they feel more confident in managing the pitfalls of social media than they did in the past.
Phones for learning
Pupils enjoy being able to use their phones in unstructured time and are supported to use them appropriately where necessary, and teachers know that leaders will address any usage in lesson time swiftly. As a result, the incidence of pupils using phones in lessons is virtually non-existent.
And for some of our pupils with high levels of additional needs, such as those who are autistic, phones and apps are central to their social life and how they communicate outside of school. Working with these pupils with special educational needs and disabilities on developing their understanding of social media will ensure that they are much less likely to be vulnerable in the future.
A small number of staff, especially those teaching creative subjects and languages, actively encourage pupils to use their phones to support their learning. For example, pupils can record each other practising for their speaking tests and then give feedback on areas where they can improve.
Smart phone policy
While there are significant challenges around social media usage by adolescents, banning phones from school will have next to no impact compared with addressing issues relating to the social media companies. Legislation that requires these platforms to be responsible for their content would be so much more powerful than banning phones.
Smart phones are here to stay, so we need to educate young people on how to use them - whether that’s evaluating the authenticity of a “news” story or learning how to treat others on various social media platforms.
It’s really no different to the work we all do in schools day in, day out to encourage young people to be polite, respectful and aware of other perspectives than their own.
Seamus Murphy is CEO of the Turner Schools Trust
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