South Australia’s bid to ban mobile phones at all schools follows a nationwide push that has already seen a number of NSW and Queensland schools enforce the rules.
NSW schools such as Balgowlah Boys High School and SCEGGS Darlinghurst, as well as Queensland’s Corinda State High School and Cairns State High School are among the schools across the states that have implemented a mobile phone ban during teaching hours.
Victorian primary and secondary schools have been mobile-free since 2020 to help tackle the rise of cyberbullying and distractions in class.
South Australia will now join in the nationwide push to see all phone usage banned within school hours.
From the start of term one, a quarter of the South Australia’s high schools will be participating in the phone ban scheme, with the rest of the state following suit by the end of term two, as per the government’s new regulations.
Students must switch their phones off and store them in lockers or bags until the end of the school day.
Some schools, like Seaview High School in southern Adelaide, are providing students with lockable lead-lined pouches that can only be unlocked from stations located at the schools’ permitter after the final bell.
NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns recently suggested that a similar phone ban would come into play later this year, stating that phone use was a potential factor in NSW’s steadily declining international PISA rankings.
Ensure you are up to date with your school’s current phone rules.
