During the last decade or so—throughout what has change into the age of Snapchat, TikTok, and relentless notifications—capturing and sustaining scholar engagement feels increasingly like chasing a unicorn. Some faculties have responded this previous yr with outright bans or units like Yondr pouches that lock telephones up through the college day. However others are offering college students with “dumb telephones”—simplified cellphone fashions with out apps, the Web, or straightforward texting capabilities. The query is: Can these relics from the early 2000s actually be the key weapon to spice up scholar engagement in school rooms at the moment? Let’s discover.
The smartphone dilemma
Smartphones supply so much to college students. Info at their fingertips. Driving instructions. Calendar reminders. Connectedness to anybody, whether or not at residence or throughout the globe. Really countless leisure.
However we additionally know they’re dangerous. For many lecturers, smartphones have been a web loss. As a result of the units are so participating, not even the clearest college directives can maintain college students off their telephones throughout class.
We all know smartphones are hurting children’ minds and our bodies. They harm college students’ teachers too. Smartphones have even shifted social norms in school—and never for the higher. Plus, we all know a number one knowledgeable on youth anxiousness recommends no smartphones in any respect till not less than age 16.
Even with the information of the hurt smartphones trigger, some faculties are nonetheless proof against outright banning scholar entry to telephones. Some faculties face strain from mother and father who say they need to be capable of contact their scholar at any time. Others argue that college students have to study accountable cellphone use and that they’ll’t try this if a cellphone is locked away from them. And at last, for a lot of boarding faculties, an answer is required the place college students can nonetheless attain mother and father, take photographs, and carry out fundamental capabilities, however with out the extra addictive “grabby” facets of smartphones.
Enter: the dumb cellphone.
Dumb telephones to the rescue?
Dumb telephones, or characteristic telephones, strip again the non-essential options of telephones, providing fundamentals like calling and texting however leaving out social media, video games, and apps. Let’s take a look at two boarding faculties which have determined to offer dumb telephones for college kids versus outright bans of telephones.
Final yr, the Buxton Faculty in western Massachusetts piloted a yr of giving every scholar and employees a Mild Telephone. In accordance with The Guardian, “The units could make calls, ship texts (slowly) and may’t load fashionable purposes; as a substitute coming with intentionally cumbersome variations of music and mapping apps. They’re in regards to the dimension of a deck of playing cards, with black and white screens.”
Whereas college students have been initially against the shift, most everybody on the college now agrees the choice was for the higher. “There are fewer interruptions throughout class, extra significant interactions round campus, and fewer time spent on screens.”
One other college making information for making the change to dumb telephones is Eton in the UK, arguably the world’s most elite prep college. This yr, returning college students shall be swapping their smartphones for Nokias. In accordance with Mashable, though it’s not but clear which mannequin Eton has chosen, the telephones will solely be capable of ship calls and textual content. Whereas we gained’t understand how this shift works at Eton till subsequent yr, it’s noteworthy that essentially the most prestigious academic establishment for youngsters has made an announcement: Sufficient is sufficient.
The downsides
Relating to limiting smartphone entry in school, no resolution goes to be excellent. But when faculties wish to present college students with dumb telephones, listed below are some issues to think about:
- They’re an funding. The Nokia and Mild Telephone talked about earlier will run faculties $80 and $299, respectively. It will likely be arduous for faculties already scuffling with finances cuts to make that selection when Yondr pouches are $25 to $30 per scholar.
- On some fashions, it’s nonetheless attainable to “tune in and tune out.” Some dumb telephones nonetheless have video games, music, cameras, and extra. Whereas the options shall be super-simplified and clunkier to make use of than a smartphone, it is perhaps sufficient to distract essentially the most tech-starved college students.
- Faculties must be cautious that laptops don’t flip into the brand new smartphones. Simply as we don’t need college students glued to smartphone screens, we don’t need them glued to laptop computer or iPad screens both. Faculties ought to consider the time college students spend on 1:1 units in school, how they’re utilizing them, and whether or not they’re actually crucial. Engagement isn’t nearly eradicating distractions, it’s about connection.
Last ideas
Understanding the dangers for youngsters who use smartphones, we applaud any college or district keen to research attainable options to protecting telephones out of faculties. Whereas dumb telephones is perhaps dearer than different options, the price of protecting smartphones in faculties is far larger—not only for scholar engagement, however for his or her total well-being.
