Majority of Teachers Want Nationwide Ban on Class Phones: Survey

cell phone in storage. Photo: Flip Franssen ANP

A majority of members of the teachers’ union AOB support a government-imposed ban on cell phones in class, according to a survey of some 8,400 teachers.

Only 54% and 57% of primary and vocational school teachers support the ban, while 73% of secondary school teachers want mobile phones to go away.

“This is a very clear result,” said Jelmer Evers, secondary education officer at AOb. “Our members say that mobile phones are having a negative impact on students’ ability to concentrate.

About 21% of teachers who voted against the ban said they wanted schools to make their own arrangements for phone calls during class, and 6% said they wanted to decide the issue themselves.

A nationwide ban would need to leave room for teachers’ discretion, Evers said. Allow students to bring them in, but put them in lockers. It means that teachers don’t want them in the classroom.

school leader

Broadcaster Survey of 50 Principals NOS earlier this year After school minister Dennis Weirsma said he wanted to discuss the ban, more than half said they would be the judges, showing the opposite result.

“Of course, it would not be difficult to ban phones in schools,” said Gerd Verbruggen, an English teacher at Alfring University in Dürne. NRC.

The motto here is “Keep it at home or in a locker” and has been for the last four years. The phone stays there all day, including during breaks. Our students are actually talking to each other,” he said.

Last November, CDA lawmakers proposed introducing a ban to improve student academic performance and encourage social interaction.

The party cited a study from the DUO Education Department that found that smartphones in the classroom lead to lower grades and affect language and reading comprehension.