Jamie Doward
Saturday 16 May 2015 16.20 EDT
Effect of ban on phones adds up to equivalent of extra week of classes over a pupil’s school year
It is a question that keeps some parents awake at night. Should children be allowed to take mobile phones to school? Now economists claim to have an answer. For parents who want to boost their children’s academic prospects, it is no.
The effect of banning mobile phones from school premises adds up to the equivalent of an extra week’s schooling over a pupil’s academic year, according to research by Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy, published by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics.
“Ill Communication: The Impact of Mobile Phones on Student Performance”found that after schools banned mobile phones, the test scores of students aged 16 improved by 6.4%. The economists reckon that this is the “equivalent of adding five days to the school year”.
The findings will feed into the ongoing debate about children’s access to mobile phones. In the UK, more than 90% of teenagers own a mobile phone; in the US, just under three quarters have one. The prevalence of the devices poses problems for head teachers, whose attitude towards the technology has hardened as it has become ubiquitous.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/may/16/schools-mobile-phones-academic-results
If they had self control it would not be a problem. They are easily distracted.
I was in a middle school classroom where kids were working on a project. They were allowed to use earbuds, but only one earbud. They were not doing research they were listening to music and watching videos.
When did it become ok for students to listen to music while in class? They are so plugged in that they cannot focus.
In Silicon Valley wealthy executives send their kids to private schools where technology is not introduced till the upper grades. They know better.
Sounds like a plan, but will it ever happen in Ridgewood with all the pampered children?