As the 2024 school year gets closer, a new generation of school-starters face what could be a difficult challenge: giving up regular access to their devices.
Currently, public schools across South Australia, the Northern Territory, Victoria and Western Australia all have mobile phone bans in place, although it is up to individual schools to manage the policy. The ACT government is also considering phone-free public schools, while Queensland will introduce the practice for the new school year ahead.
For those starting school for the first time in 2024, the ban allows students to carry their devices to and from school but prohibits them from using them during class times, or at recess and lunch.
Mobile phone lockers and pouches keep phones safe
To manage the policy, many schools have utilised purpose-built mobile phone lockers, safes or pouches to keep students’ phones stored securely out of reach.
For young children whose families may have been more relaxed about their access to devices, the change could come as a shock that parents should start preparing their children for now.
Dr Natasha Rappa is a Senior Lecturer at Murdoch University’s School of Education in Western Australia (WA) and specialises in education technology. She believes parental stress about a child’s inability to give up their reliance on technology when the new school year starts isn’t only limited to incoming preps.
With research showing there is increasing use of mobile phones or rather smartphones amongst children for playing games, taking photos/videos, using apps and accessing the Internet, Dr Rappa says “it would not be wrong to assume that such usage intensifies over the school holidays”.
She points to data from the Australian Communications and Media Authority that looked at use and ownership of mobile phones by Australian children aged six to 13 since 2015.
“The issue of addiction partly pertains to devices (e.g. smartphones, iPads and tablets) but is also related to the specific gaming apps and social networking sites (SNSs) that students frequently access. For example, SNSs such as Tik Tok, and YouTube Shorts promote addictive behaviours with their recommendation algorithm,” she told EducationDaily.
Adhere to recommended guidelines for all ages
And for parents who have relied on technology as a babysitter in times of a hectic household, that easy access may be hard to manage in when the new term begins in 2024.
While Dr Rappa admits that the ban on the use of phones in schools across many Australian states and territories will help enforce it, she says there are strategies already recommended to help families deal with school-age children who may be dealing with device addiction issues.
These include:
- no screen time for children younger than two years
- no more than one hour per day for children aged 2–5 years
- no more than two hours of sedentary recreational screen time per day for children and young people aged 5–17 years (not including schoolwork).
Source: https://aifs.gov.au/resources/short-articles/too-much-time-screens
These should apply, Dr Rappa says, “regardless of whether it’s school term or the holidays” but says that “it is more challenging for parents to monitor their children during the holidays”.
“Nevertheless, there should be reasonable agreements not just around how long but also when and where devices can be accessed and parental controls are implemented based on these agreements,” she told EducationDaily.
“Close monitoring of content accessed by young children is needed, so they should only access these devices when their parents or a caregiver is present and able to peer over their shoulder to check on what they are doing online. This means that young children should not be accessing these devices alone in their own room. It is advisable to have young children’s access limited to specific advertisement-free apps parents download into the device.”
Dealing with tech addiction
For parents planning a ‘cold turkey’ approach to children who may be experiencing school-led mobile phone bans for the first time, Dr Rappa says that removing access to devices completely breeds resentment – “especially among older children who use these devices to maintain contact with their peers throughout the day”.
“There needs to be negotiations around which SNSs are being accessed and for how long, but it would help if parents could have dinner conversations with their older children about what’s trending on these SNSs and elicit their children’s views on these trends,” she says.
And in families where younger children look to their older siblings and often mimic their behaviour, setting boundaries for children of all ages is generally recommended.
“The eSafety Commissioner provides advice and resources for diverse groups (e.g. educators, parents, young people kids, women, seniors, first nations). There needs to be greater publicity around these readily available resources that educators, parents, teens could turn to for guidance,” Dr Rappa says, pointing to a resource about parental controls that is ideal for parents of younger children.
Teachers play key role in healthy phone use
Australian Catholic University (ACU) Associate Professor Laura Scholes says teachers also play a key role in establish class expectations at the beginning of each school year.
“This includes guidelines around phone use and healthy engagement,” she told EducationDaily. “If teachers work to set clear boundaries around phones and justify their actions, students can learn helpful behaviours. This is true for many activities at school that depend on students abiding by routines that are not part of their day during the holidays.”
Ms Scholes points to research suggesting that mobile phone use may hinder young people’s habits and lead to negative impacts on the way they engage with education.
“For instance, they may not engage in deep reading, as they have developed habits whereby they skim, scroll and scan through sites and become distracted by hyperlinks, pop-ups, alerts, notifications and hotspots,” she says. “Reading behaviours increasingly include ‘stacking’ as young people attend to multiple tasks at the same time— using multiple devices to conduct often unrelated tasks— and ‘meshing’— as they simultaneously communicate content. This lack of deep engagement is illustrated by young people’s use of the labels TL:DR (too long; did not read) and SR:MP (skim- read; missed point). Skills to overcome these habits, however, can be taught in schools.”
Device use at school, she says, “needs to be balanced with print-based activities, physical movement and activities that engage students”.
Prepare for back-to-school transition with consistency
“While digital platforms are increasingly important for education, teachers have a responsibility to ensure their curriculum and pedagogy is child-centred and takes into account some of the downsides,” she told EducationDaily. “Teaching children about unhealthy phone use is urgent. Building communities of practice in classrooms where all children are on the same page about phone use will elevate peer pressure to engage in healthy practices. Many children are aware of the downside to phones and all children should be involved in any classroom expectations or rules created so there is consensus. This will help make sure the expectations are upheld.”
For parents preparing their children for the transition to school from the holidays, she suggests putting limits on phone use time and activities.
“Substituting a portion of phone time with physically active activities is optimal. Ensure children are engaged in academics – such as reading, and sports to decrease high screen time,” she says. “Teaching children responsibility for their phones and healthy behaviours is an important parental role.”
