Mobile phones banned from NSW public high schools from Monday 09 october
Mobile phones will be banned from all public high schools in New South Wales from today.
Key points:
Families with children heading back to school for the start of a new term are being reminded that mobile phones are not allowed to be used by students during school hours.
Students in public high schools across NSW must have their mobile phones turned off and out of sight from Monday, October 9.
NSW students can still carry phones to and from school and the Premier Chris Minns explained the ban would benefit students and teachers
He mentioned that Ulladulla High Schoolhad already banned phones at the beginning of the year and that Individual schools will decide how to implement the ban, which will apply during classes, recess and lunchtimes.
Obviously, students will still be allowed to carry their devices while travelling to and from school.
“The ban comes into force after consultation with teachers, students and parents, and will apply during class, recess and at lunch. Students will still be permitted to carry a phone while travelling to and from school.”
It follows an election promise made by NSW Premier Chris Minns, who says the ban part of a number of measures being put in place to to improve the classroom environment and student outcomes.
Premier Chris Minns said the introduction would bring secondary schools in line with those in South Australia, the Northern Territory, Victoria and Western Australia.
Mr Minns said the move would benefit both students and teachers and should have been put in place “years earlier”.
“It is essential to ensure that young people in particular can focus on the school work in front of them,” he said.
“These mobile phones are designed to distract young people with their notifications, with social media, with gaming technology.
“We cannot expect young people to focus on their academic work, while they’ve got a phone pinging in their ear every other second.”
He also said the decision might help with mental health, but said the main concern was was the distraction caused by mobile phones pose.
“We’ve seen mobile phone use in schools explode in recent years and, at the end of the day, test scores have declined over the same period of time.We all know how many adults find it difficult to put down their phones and focus on the job at hand.”
“Why are we expecting children and adolescents to have the kind of discipline that adults don’t have?”
