Mobile phone use at school: Should parents or teachers be responsible for children’s phone habits? | Exclusive poll

Mobile phone usage in schools has been a hot topic for many years, with many schools enacting outright bans on devices.

But this approach has been questioned in recent times, with a new study showing a ban on phones in schools was not the ‘silver bullet’ it was thought it would be.

Now, a new survey conducted by Nine.com.au has found the majority of people think parents, not schools, should be fully responsible for children’s mobile phone usage.

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An exclusive Nine.com.au poll of readers asked, “Should parents or teachers be responsible for restricting mobile phone usage in children during class time?”

The poll drew 508 responses.

Just over half, or 54 per cent, said parents should be fully responsible for children’s mobile phone usage, while 40 per cent said it was the school’s responsibility.

The remaining 6 per cent said they were unsure.

Every state and territory in Australia, except the ACT, has banned mobile phones.

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The NSW Government enacted a ban on mobile phone usage in public high schools in October 2023.

Students must have their mobile phones turned off and out of sight during school time. The ban applies to all class time, recess and lunch breaks.

It followed consultation with teachers, students and parents, and followed on from a ban on mobile phones in NSW primary schools that was already in place.

Prior to the ban, a Sydney mum started a petition urging the NSW government’s Department of Education to come up with a “consistent policy” regarding mobile phone use at NSW public schools to ban their use onsite.

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Rachel Chappell, the founder and publisher of Sydney parenting website, North Shore Mums, said mobile phone usage for kids was an “ongoing issue that parents struggled with every day” but the one place smartphones shouldn’t be allowed was at school.

But a UK study published last month found banning mobile phones in schools was not a “silver bullet” to improving student wellbeing or academic performance.

The study by Birmingham University researchers was published in Lancet Regional Health Europe.

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It was the first in the world to examine school phone regulations against benchmarks of student health and educational performance.

It was based on data about smartphone and social media usage from 30 schools and 1227 students across England.

Of the schools that took part, 20 had restrictive phone policies while the others permitted student phone use at certain times, such as breaks, lunch or in certain zones.

“Our study suggests that school policies are not the silver bullet for preventing the detrimental impacts of smartphone and social media use,” senior study author Miranda Pallan said.

“The paper shows that restrictive policies on recreational phone use in schools do not lead to better outcomes among students, but that addressing overall phone use should be a priority for improving health and wellbeing among adolescents.”

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