The nationwide ban on pupils using mobile phones at school is in place but the former school of Prime Minister and Botany MP Christopher Luxon in east Auckland says they’re sometimes a necessary part of learning.
During last year’s general election campaign the National Party said if elected it would “ban cell phone use at school to help lift achievement and support every child to make the most out of their education”.
“That is why our policy will apply throughout the whole school day.
“The presumption is phones will be off and away all day.
“Schools will be able to decide exactly how they enforce it, but it could mean requiring students to hand in their phones before school or leave them in their lockers or bags.
“Parents can contact students via the school office, and exceptions for students with health conditions or special circumstances will be permitted.”
Fast forward to April 29 and the start of the new school term saw the coalition Government’s ban on mobile phones in schools came into force.
Luxon marked the occasion by posting on Facebook: “From today, it’s official.
“Phones have been banned in schools across the country.
“It’s time we cut the distractions so kids can learn and achieve.”
Howick College, which Luxon attended as a teenager, already required pupils to have their mobile phones off and in their bags during class time.
But there are exceptions, the school’s principal Dale Burden says.
The Times spoke to Burden about the phone ban before it was implemented.
He says at the heart of the Government’s policy is removing distractions.
“Distractions of the phone in the classroom and pulling it out, etc.
“So they don’t do that and if they do, the phone gets taken by the teacher and there’s a consequence, so they know what the rule is.
“Some of our students need to use their phones in class for some things because it’s more than just a phone.
“It’s part of their teaching and learning.
“Particularly in our learner support department where dyslexic kids or kids with other types of learning differences don’t necessarily write everything down.
“They can take a photograph or have to record.
“So the little clause is that they’re off and in their bag unless directed by the teacher.
“It’s under teacher direction.”
Burden says the Government’s policy “supposedly helps schools by supporting them to say you can’t use your phone in the class”.
“I think if a teacher needs a student, for whatever reason, with the teaching and learning to use their phone, that’s fine.
“Kids can do a lot of things on their laptop and their [Apple] iPad that they can do on their phone anyway but they’re not banned.
“So it’s about students following the rules and teachers implementing them in a commonsense way.”
