Many Scottish schools are struggling to implement effective mobile phone polices, a new survey shows.
In a poll of 1,451 members of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA), 92 per cent said that lessons are interrupted by mobile phones.
However, the survey also uncovers much confusion and inconsistency over how to respond to such issues.
Most teachers canvassed by the SSTA supported some form of ban on mobile phone use in parts of their school, although only 37 per cent said they would back an outright ban.
Are school mobile phone policies effective?
While 72 per cent of members indicated that their school had a mobile phone policy, only 10 per cent could refer to a policy that they found “extremely/very effective”.
Some 96 per cent said that they would be willing to help their school or local authority work on a mobile phone policy.
SSTA education convener James Cowans said: “Schools are struggling to implement successful mobile phone policies. There are several issues with implementing a policy, such as inconsistency, legality, pupils not conforming, no consequences, support from local authorities, that need to be resolved.”
The SSTA’s commentary on the survey notes that, when teachers tried to use sanctions, this frequently “led to complications, such as confrontation with pupils when they refuse to give phones up (often with parental support)”.
‘No consequences’ for misuse of phones
Many respondents to the survey cited Ineffective responses to the misuse of mobile phones.
One SSTA member said: “Pupils in my school have iPads - so they don’t need to have their phones. But they are regularly out in class. Referrals raised don’t reduce incidents - there are no consequences.”
Another complained of “major inconsistencies” in the sanctions applied in different classrooms.
One respondent said: “My headteacher says our council policy is that phones cannot be removed from pupils. This means you have no support if you do take the phone for the period, you have no support if a parent complains about a child being told to put their phone away, and no depute or [principal teacher] is allowed to support sanctions for phone use.
“Yet we are constantly told pupils are to have no access to their phones and we’re to magically nurture them into not wanting to use their phone.”
Another teacher said: “Sadly, many parents take the side of their young person, or have been the ones to message during lesson time. If parents don’t support the policy, it becomes increasingly difficult.”
Reported misuse of mobile phones in lessons covered a wide range of behaviour, including: gaming, recording staff, listening to music, watching TV, contacting parents to make a complaint about staff, taking and hiding other people’s phones, anxiety (constantly checking a phone), arranging meetings in corridors or toilets, use of Snapchat or YouTube, cheating during tests, upskirting, online dares, and videoing fights and bullying then sharing this on social media.
One teacher said that “pupils have a belief that they can do whatever they want with them”.
Impact on behaviour and learning
Today’s results follow a 2023 SSTA behaviour survey in which 71 per cent of members said they were concerned that the misuse of mobile phones was having an impact on student behaviour and learning.
SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said today: “It would appear that the benefits of using mobile phones are now outweighed by the negative impact that they are having on learning and teaching, behaviour, attainment and achievement.”
He added: “Only 37 per cent of members support a complete ban of mobile phones in school. However, the majority would support a mobile phone ban from the classroom and other parts of the school.”
Too often mobile phones are “preventing teachers from teaching” and “taking over” students’ lives, Mr Searson said.
“There needs to be a concerted effort from the Scottish government, local authorities, schools - working together with teachers, pupils and their parents - to redress the balance of what is acceptable mobile phone use and its place in a young person’s life,” he added.
One SSTA member surveyed said: “The [mobile phone] policy has to be Scotland-wide with no room for interpretation. I spoke to one class and they were on their phones up to eight hours a day.”
Mobiles compensating for poor wi-fi
The survey also highlights schools’ struggles to make digital technology more accessible generally.
Some 62 per cent of respondents saw some benefits in using mobile phones in lessons - albeit this is partly explained by personal mobiles, in some schools, providing the most reliable access to the internet.
Mr Cowans explained that, “in many cases”, support for mobile phones in schools was “due to the lack of access to other mobile devices or poor connectivity within the school”. For example, 64 per cent of respondents said that wi-fi in their school was “variable to poor”.
Some other comments from SSTA survey respondents include:
- “Aggressive and defiant behaviour when pupils are asked to put phone away or put it in the box.”
- “Phones are such a massive distraction...the level of engagement and, therefore, attainment is diminished”.
- “Mobile phones are the biggest challenge in my class. They cause behaviour management issues in virtually every lesson.”
- “Pupils are very distracted by their phones. Often when one is confiscated and sitting on my desk it vibrates continually with Snapchat and other message notifications.”
- “It’s relentless - I wish there were a ban with proper sanctions like in other schools.”
- “More strategic action from government is needed to give teachers powers to remove such devices.”
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