What New Zealand students make of the new school phone ban

By RNZ

There are some doubts about the Gvernment-enforced cellphone ban in schools - with one student questioning how it will be implemented when teachers cannot even stop students vaping.

All schools in Aotearoa were now required to forbid students from using their phones at any time during the school day except under special circumstances.

The policy was aimed at reducing distractions and improving student achievement.

Sneaking looks at phone during school 'inevitable' but most students in favour of ban, principal says. Photo / RNZ

Hutt Valley High School, like many others, has been doing it since the start of the year. And students spoken to by RNZ said it was going okay.

“People are more interested in learning and not what’s going on in their phones,” one Year 11 student said.

“It’s good in classes, but I feel like between classes, it’s nice to interact with friends if they’re not there with you,” another said.

Another said he thought students should be allowed their phone during morning tea and lunch, while another said it allowed students to connect with others “rather than just looking at our phones the whole day”.

The Government’s nationwide school phone ban came into effect this week. Photo / 123RF

But there had been resistance.

In response to a TikTok post about youth vaping by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, some people asked him to unban phones in schools, others asked for him to allow phones in schools and another said: “I’m on my phone at school.”

One Auckland secondary school student told RNZ the ban was not working.

“The ban has created unnecessary conflict between students and teachers, and actually ended up disrupting learning. The sentiment here is that the school can’t even stop people vaping in class - how are they supposed to stop phone usage? It’s making little to no change and the effect it is having is for the worse. It’s not working.”

At Hutt Valley High, students put their phones in wall-mounted pockets during class time and were asked not to use them during breaks.

Principal Denise Johnson said those who broke the rules were told to surrender their phones to her assistant.

“They put their phone in this little bag and Lana puts their name and where they are. The teacher would have emailed Lana to say ‘Mary is on her way’, and Mary arrives, she’s followed the rules, it goes in this box here, and then at 3.15, Mary comes and picks it up.”

A phone was already in the box when RNZ visited. Johnson said it belonged to a student who was struggling to follow the rules - ending up with family meetings.

“As a result, she chose to bring her phone to Lana’s office every day so that she wouldn’t be tempted to use it. And she pops in at lunchtime to just check it’s there and to have a little check and then she puts it back in there and then she collects it at the end of the day.”

Many schools asked students to just keep their phones switched off in their bags.

But Johnson said that was not really working at her school.

“When the child’s got the phone on their person, you know, the teacher hasn’t got eyes in the back of their head. Those notifications literally don’t stop on some of those phones, so, incredibly successful being able to demand that all phones are put in phone pockets and most of our students would say it totally helped them to focus on their learning.”

She said teachers were enforcing the ban without going overboard about it.

Johnson said it was inevitable some students will sneak a look at their phones during breaks but overall, the policy was good for the school.

- RNZ