Push for phone-free schools

Mail & Guardian

28-04-2025

An organisation says the devices reduce children's ability to concentrate and learn effectively. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
Concerned parents have called on Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube to develop a national policy to restrict smartphone access in schools so learners can focus on their work and develop socially without the distraction and influence of social media and games.
The South African chapter of the global movement
'We're talking about a break from the compulsive lure of their screens and the content that the never-sleeping algorithms serve them,' the organisation's co-founder Kate Farina said.
Smartphone-free schools require learners to securely lock away their personal electronic devices — including phones, smartwatches, tablets, and gaming devices — making them inaccessible throughout the academic day.
Smartphone Free Childhood has launched a phone-free
It provides guidelines on how schools should manage smartphones for educational technology and says 'clear and appropriate consequences should be in place and consistently enforced when the policy is violated'.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, schools have rapidly adopted technology to bridge learning gaps. When lockdowns disrupted traditional classes, many schools shifted to online platforms, using tools such as WhatsApp, Google Classroom, and Zoom.
'My son was in grade 10 during the Covid-19 pandemic. We were unsure if he would have to repeat the grade or have to self-study, and when they introduced classes on Zoom, it gave me some hope that technology could help bridge the gap between lockdown and an education,' one Johannesburg parent, who did not want to be named, said.
Smartphone Free Childhood argued that, while technology assisted learners during the pandemic, they were now back to full school attendance and research had shown that unrestricted mobile phone use in classrooms hindered academic performance.
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'The presence of a smartphone and high phone-conscious thought affects one's memory learning and recall, indicating the negative effect of a smartphone's proximity to our learning and memory,' it said.
A 2023 report by Unesco, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation,
Since then, countries such as France, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, Spain and New Zealand have implemented various forms of cellphone restrictions in schools.
A study by the London School of Economics found that banning phones in schools improved test scores, particularly among low-achieving students, but another
'This reduced use in schools with restrictive phone policies did not manifest in differences in the overall time spent on phones and social media or differences in mental health and well-being and other associated outcomes,' it said.
Last year, academics at Stellenbosch University surveyed 2 195
It said while many teachers used smartphones as part of the learning process, most of them believed that phone use in class should only be allowed with the teacher's permission.
It also cautioned that access to artificial intelligence tools had critical implications for teenagers' learning and cognitive development.
'Teens are also using tools like ChatGPT and Meta AI to generate essays, oral presentations and artwork for school projects.
'There can be little doubt that this trend will rapidly spread in the coming years.
'It is critical that the implications thereof for teens' learning and cognitive development are studied and that appropriate guidelines are developed to guide schools and parents,' it said.
On the plus side, smartphones can enhance access to information and facilitate communication, although research conducted by the University of Cape Town showed that their effectiveness depends on how they are integrated into the learning environment.
In 2022, the Interdisciplinary Journal of Education
In South Africa, the socioeconomic digital divide remains a significant barrier to equal education.
According to Statistics South Africa's 2023
But only 14.5% of households had fixed internet access at home, versus 72.6% of households accessing the internet via mobile devices.