Should schools ban mobile phones for kids? Education expert says it’s problematic

An education researcher says children need to be taught the proper uses of mobile phones, rather than following the French Government’s lead and banning them in schools.

Last week, new laws were announced banning French school students aged 15 and under from using phones on school grounds.

But professor John Hattie from the University of Melbourne said there were good and bad uses for phones.

“I don’t have a great problem with taking them to school or not taking them to school, my concern is what they use them for,” he told Tom Elliott.

“There are some very good uses of mobile phones.

“The notion of banning phones, I can’t imagine that being successful I can’t imagine schools having lock boxes. It’s a matter of when we face up to the fact we have to teach kids the appropriate use of phones.”

Tom: I must say I would like to ban them, when I see examples of some of the bullying that kids subject each other to. 

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