The Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) has stated that imposing blanket bans on mobile phones in schools is not in children’s best interests, arguing that such measures are ineffective in safeguarding children’s rights against potential harms linked to phone and social media use, reports RTE.
A report on school phone bans and children’s rights has been published by the OCO in collaboration with its Youth Advisory Panel (YAP).
Titled *‘One Size Does Not Fit All’*, the report presents young people’s perspectives on mobile phone restrictions in schools and combines major national and international studies viewed through the lens of children’s rights, reports RTE.
The OCO is urging the Government to factor in the impact on children’s rights — including their right to express their views — while also recognising the diversity among schools and students, and considering children’s differing ages and maturity levels when crafting policies about phone use.
“Importantly the report illustrates why we need to move beyond an oversimplistic focus on bans to an approach that supports children to competently and confidently navigate the digital world, and that addresses root causes of the challenges children face online,” the ombudsman’s office said, reports RTE.
The OCO said it is proposing five recommendations, which it hopes “will be used by policy makers to guide decision making on this issue”.
Dr Tricia Keilthy, OCO’s Head of Policy, said: “Phones play a such big part in young people’s lives; it’s how they communicate with each other and share content online and so any decision to ban phones in schools is going to have an equally big impact,” reports RTE.
“It is completely understandable that parents, teachers and indeed Government would have concerns about the negative impact of phones at school, but a blanket ban is not the way to mitigate this risk,” reports RTE.
She said the findings show that the issue is “much more nuanced” and that banning phones in schools “doesn’t take children’s views — or indeed their rights — into account”.
Ms Keilthy explained that the OCO engaged in consultations with 29 members of its Youth Advisory Panel, aged between 13 and 17, to hear their thoughts and experiences related to school phone bans, reports RTE.
“The YAP told us that banning phones at school can have just as negative an impact on their rights as the phones themselves, and that phones have many other uses at school other than just communication. They told us, for example, how they use their phones to learn, stay informed, look after their health, and even connect with their culture, language and beliefs,” she said, reports RTE.
“The young people also describe how they have not had a say in the decision to ban phones nor have their views been taken into account,” reports RTE.
Ms Keilthy said the feedback from young people is clear, stressing that “we must move beyond talk of bans and adopt a more holistic, evidence based and creative approach to addressing the problems that phone use creates and often exacerbates, both in schools and beyond the school gates”.
“In practice this will mean empowering students through a standalone digital literacy programme and creating safe spaces online by strengthening the regulation of online service providers,” she said, reports RTE.
“It is also vital that parents and teachers are better supported around the whole use of technology so they can in turn better support the students around these issues,” reports RTE.
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