Countdown on for Victoria’s 2020 mobile phone school ban
The mobile phone ban for Victorian schools is looming and many are still grappling with the best way to separate students from their favourite accessories.
Education
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Nearly 150 secondary schools have so far received grants to upgrade or buy lockers to store mobile phones in readiness for next year’s statewide ban.
Some schools have trialled the ban ahead of 2020 and others are tailoring specific policies for their individual school community.
But advocacy group Parents Victoria says it remains wary about the increased workload on teachers and principals to police the ban and deal with wrongdoers, fearing it will take them away from teaching.
Eltham High School started the ban from November 18 as a trial.
It says on the first day of the trial 25 students did not comply but by the end of the week it was down to 10 and barely a week in it reported benefits. Numurkah Secondary College has been given $25,000 to buy new lockers with combination locks and Bright P-12 College used a $22,000 grant to buy heavy duty lockers.
Footscray City College has received $43,400 for new locks and lockers, Doreen’s Hazel Glen College got $80,840 for new lockers and locker bays and Healesville High School has received $14,300 for new lockers.
In coming weeks more schools are expected to apply for a share of the $12.4 million fund.
Education Minister James Merlino said the news that Western Australia and Tasmania had followed Victoria’s lead was no surprise.
“We know schools are embracing this new policy, which is evident in the way some schools have decided not to wait to introduce their phone ban,” he said.
The department says a sample of schools contacted showed that schools appeared to be on top of the policy and funding available.
“The phone ban will help reduce distraction, tackle cyber bullying and improve outcomes for all students,” Mr Merlino said.
The department has established a hotline to provide advice for schools about policy development and funding. The topic has been canvassed at 17 area principal forums.
The overall policy requires students to switch off their phones and store them securely from the start of the day to the final bell. Some schools will have an escalating response. In the first instance the phone might be held by the teacher for the remainder of the class, in the second instance held by a school head and subsequent misdemeanours may lead to detention and suspension and involvement of guardians.
A number of schools, including McKinnon Secondary College, has had a longstanding ban. Gisborne Secondary College, after a series of incidents where students were filming and uploading real and play fights, has had a ban this year.
Private school Trinity Grammar banned phones at the start of last year after outgoing headmaster Phil De Young lamented that the boys were spending too much time on Fortnite instead of talking to each other.
The department says in an emergency the students and parents will be able to connect through the school office.
There will be a couple of exceptions to the ban where students use phones to monitor health conditions or where teachers instruct students to bring their phone for a particular classroom activity. At all other times phones must be locked away. Any exemptions must be documented.
While many schools and parents are thankful for the blanket ban, because it gives them power to enforce policies against distracting phone use, others are concerned about the logistics.
Parents Victoria executive officer Ms Gail McHardy said it appeared the ministerial ban will heavily rely on how the school will implement and manage locally.
“Parents Victoria has expressed concern from the outset regarding the ban implementation and enforcement. The cost of administering the ban, where that $12.4m investment in storage could be better used for supporting students in their learning,” she said.
She said it appeared to be left to schools to determine and implement their own requirements.
“It won’t necessarily be lockers in primary schools, it could be an array of things but regardless the collection and distribution will be interesting to see how that all plays out re staffing/co-ordination for those who do bring or hand their phones in,” she said.
She said parents will hopefully discourage their children from taking mobile phones to
primary school which would free teachers up from having to manage them.
“PV concerns remain when there is non compliance of the ban, the impact of the ban, how the enforcement and regulation of the policy delegated to teachers and principals to manage when they’re already feeling under pressure by the existing workloads and expectations,” she said.
She said if teachers were spending time at the beginning and end of the day to manage phones, or when they’re permitted to be in class, it has the potential to cause learning disruption.
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Many schools are canvassing options in newsletters. A number of primary schools are looking at a consent form, signed by parents, which will see the child hand over their phone to a teacher in the morning. Some schools are suggesting parents require their primary school children to leave their phone at home.
While a phone was often considered a rite of passage for Year 7 students, reflecting that they travelled unaccompanied to high school, many younger students now own phones.
The mobile phone policy does not apply to attendance at out of school hours care.
Under education department policy any private property brought to schools by students is not insured by the school or covered by school insurance.