Mobile Phones in Schools

One of the reasons that teachers are increasingly anti, cons or against them in the classroom is that there has been a huge increase in the number of staged incidents, in which pupils are "setting up" their teachers. This involves staging or engineering a funny or embarrassing situation which is captured, via their mobile phones, and posted on social media websites. It is understandable that staff in education would be against this, and it undermines them to a huge degree and on the face of it, a ban on phones in the classroom would be the most effective way of stopping this.

This has been the line taken by many schools and institution, with an outright ban in place. But the tide may be turning against this, with an increasing number now reassessing this policy, and the main reason is an admission that they cannot stop pupils using their phones, short of searching them on the way into schools which brings its own set of problems.

Phones contain a heck of a lot of technology, and even your standard model will have a camera and voice recording. Teachers are now incorporating this into the curriculum, and using smart phones' capabilities such as GPS applications, web abilities and many others as well. It's a way of both acknowledging the power of these machines, and taking some of the mystique of having them in school with you.

Of course there is always the opportunity to teach young pupils about the need to recycle their old mobile phones. This is important as they are at an age when they are open to learning about these things, but also going through more phones than at any other stage in their lives. The value of recycling to the environment is invaluable, and students cam learn about the makeup of their phone, and that it is not just a throwaway object without value when it is broken.

With 98% of the population owning a mobile phone, and likely to do so for life, allowing and incorporating them into daily life within a school is a practical and progressive step.