MP's want to ban smartphones from schools entirely, not just in class
D66 parliamentarian Hanneke van der Werf wants to ban smartphones from the entire school, instead of the current ban from the classroom. A parliamentary majority supports the plan for phone-free schools, RTL Nieuws reports.
Smartphones have been banned in the class at almost all of the 1,600 secondary schools since the start of last year. But almost half of the schools still allow kids to use their phones between classes and during breaks.
“At schools where phones are still allowed during breaks, the lesson often starts with calming down the Snapchat row from the break. And it is still very unpleasant on the schoolyard when break time is used to scroll,” Van der Werf told the broadcaster. “We still see too often that students are busy with TikTok between lessons and teachers have to play police officer.”
She will therefore submit a proposal to apply the “at home or in the safe” principle, in which phones are left at home or locked up in the school safe for the entire day, at all schools. “Teachers are also asking for this,” the D66 MP said.
A survey by RTL showed that the proposal will have majority support, with GroenLinks-PvdA, NSC, BBB, ChristenUnie, CDA, SP, SGP, and PvdD saying they would vote in favor.
Developmental psychologist Loes Pouwels supports the “at home or in the safe” principle, but doesn’t think it will actually reduce the amount of time children spend on their phones. “By banning mobile phones during school hours, the chance that young people will spend more time on their phones after school increases,” she told the broadcaster.
