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School phone ban: How effective will it be?
A Wellington secondary school student believes the government’s ban on phones in schools will only force students to be more underhanded and “sneakier” in order to use their devices.
Monday’s first day of term two sees the cellphone prohibition policy come into effect throughout the country, mandating schools to ensure students don’t use or access to a phone during class time, lunchtime and breaks.
There are some exemptions for health, learning support or special circumstances.
National announced the policy two months before the election in order to “help students focus and improve their academic outcomes”.
During December’s announcement, Minister of Education Erica Stanford said the ban would apply from term two, at which point all schools would be required to have a cellphone policy in place.
But Flo Galvin, a year nine pupil at Wellington High School, has raised doubts over how effective the regulations would ultimately be.
Flo (13) said while phones were a “problem issue” for teenagers, a blanket ban at schools was not the answer.
“I’m definitely addicted to my phone,” she said. “Phones in schools, and phones generally, is a pretty big problem for teenagers, but I just don’t know whether the ban and how they’re trying to do it is going to be effective.
“From experiences of going to a school where phones were banned and people are still on phones and using them, it just feels that nothing is actually going to happen.”
Minister of Education Erica Stanford. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
She said she observed students at her last school, which had a phone ban in place, sidestep the rules.
“From what I knew, at least in my classes and people I knew, not many people followed the rule.
“I’ve been talking about this to friends. [The policy] isn’t actually going to mean that people aren’t on their phones, it just means they’ll be sneakier about it and won’t be caught.
“I don’t know if it’ll be harder to regulate, but I just don’t think it will make a difference.”
Wellington High School outlined its reading on the policy last month, highlighting the “good educational and organisational uses” of cellphones at school.
“We want to implement a policy that acknowledges those purposes.
“If teachers request that students do not use phones in class, we expect our students to comply with that request, except where an exemption is in place.
“In general, students will keep phones, and other small digital devices, silenced and out of sight when they are in class.”
Flo said although prohibiting phones during class time was “totally reasonable”, she would prefer to have the freedom to use it during lunch breaks.
“During break there’s not much of a reason for it and being able to text friends and figuring out where to meet up during lunch is nice, especially in a really big school.”
However some leaders in the sector believe most students had bought into the new regulations.
Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand (SPANZ) president and Papatoetoe High School principal Vaughan Couillaut said many schools began phasing in the rules during term one.
“I have to say that students have been extremely compliant in the first part of term one and during the backend when we stopped the ‘education’ and moved into the ‘implementation’.
“People have seemed to have bought into it.”
At Papatoetoe High School, about five phone confiscations had occurred on an average day during term one, Couillaut said.
“Not necessarily the same students, but those students are generally compliant.”
Couillaut said schools need to figure out gathering procedures, although most schools, including Papatoetoe, had opted for the “leave it in your bag” approach.
“For a school of nearly 1800, I simply can’t gather them all at the beginning of the day without eating into curriculum time.”
Another matter for school leaders throughout was around the care of students’ devices, often valued at $1000-plus.
“It’ll get a bit dark and misty if a device gets lost or broken while it’s confiscated and each school will negotiate that as it happens,” Couillaut said.
A pupil of Christchurch’s Burnside High School that RNZ spoke to said the policy was a good move as it removed “distractions from the class”.
rnz
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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