THE new Federal Minister for Education has backed teachers who collect mobile phone from students in classrooms.
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Dan Tehan, the member for Wannon, said banning phones from classrooms was not a bad idea and “very sensible”.
He said there was no doubt phones could be distracting.
“I want kids to concentrate in class so they get the best possible education and I will back any school or teacher who bans mobile phones in the classroom where they are causing a distraction,” he said.
“NSW is conducting a review into mobile phones in the classroom and they have agreed to share the results with the Education Council when it next meets at the end of the year.”
Mr Tehan said he would back teachers who thought mobile phones were preventing children from learning, and who had students put phones in a basket at the start of the class.
“If that’s what teachers think will lead to better outcomes, then I’d be happy to back teachers on that,” he said.
But, a spokesman said the minister couldn't implement the initiative - that was up to individual schools.
"Mr Tehan made those comments due to the rise in cyberbullying and the fact mobile phone are a distraction," she said.
"While schools do receive federal funding they are not a federal responsibility, they are a state and territory responsibility. Currently it's up to schools," she said.
Warrnambool secondary schools are ahead of the wave with all four banning phone use in classrooms.
Brauer College principal Jane Boyle said her school's policy was that students either leave their phones in their locker or put them in a box on the teacher's desk as they walk in.
"It works very well. It's a consistent policy that has the full support of parents and since it's introduction we've had very few phone problems," she said.
"We introduced the policy at the start of the year," she said.
Earlier this year the The Standard contacted the three other Warrnambool secondary schools about their policies.
While students are able to access the internet on approved school devices for learning purposes, mobile phones are banned in class at Emmanuel, Warrnambool and King’s colleges.
Emmanuel College principal Peter Morgan said the college trialed allowing mobile phones in class but found student’s temptation to check messages was distracting and proved to be a “huge issue”.
“In the end we believe that their learning was going to be best served by not having them in the classroom,” Mr Morgan said.
He said students could use their phones at recess and lunchtime but it was monitored to ensure students engaged with each other and did not become socially isolated.
Warrnambool College principal David Clift referred The Standard to the college’s Information and Communication Technology Acceptable Use Agreement which states that devices can be used only for learning purposes and only when directed by the teacher.
It also states that photos and sound or video must only be taken when it is part of an educational activity and has been approved by a teacher.
Mr Clift would not go into any further detail except to say that mobile phones were “very much a part of the way in which most people experience the world” and “part of how teenagers experience the world."
At King’s College principal Allister Rouse said students could only use their mobile phones for learning under teacher direction but they were to be kept in their lockers at all other times.
Earlier this month France imposed a ban on mobile phone, tablets and smart watches in class for children aged under 15 years old.
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