Vienna's Education City Councilor Wiederkehr Wants Mobile Phone Ban in Primary Schools
Upon leaving the school building, the mobile phones could then be retrieved from these safes.
"Mobile Phone is a Distraction Killer"
If the mobile phone ban in primary schools proves successful, it would be conceivable to extend it to other types of schools - such as middle schools, Wiederkehr suggested. The councilor complained that the mobile phone would increasingly distract students from their lessons. "The addiction to mobile phones and social media is massively increasing, the mobile phone is a distraction killer," Wiederkehr found.
In the daily newspaper "Heute", Wiederkehr recently advocated for a nationwide clear regulation for an age-appropriate mobile phone ban at schools. The use of the devices for educational purposes should of course still be possible.
Vienna Not Alone
Vienna is not the first federal state where stricter regulation of mobile phone use in schools is being debated. Just on Monday, Carinthia's Education Officer Daniel Fellner (SPÖ) announced that he would ban mobile phone use in primary schools by decree. For ten to fourteen year olds, there should be a "regulated use". Fellner also stated a nationwide uniform solution as a goal.
In Styria, a decree is already being drafted, the mobile phone ban should apply during lessons up to the 7th grade. Although 99 percent of schools are already living the ban, a legal basis for it is now to be created.
Rules Already Possible
Basically, schools can already establish rules for mobile phone use in class or on school premises within the framework of their school autonomy, either in the house rules or in class contracts. The Ministry of Education has recommended rules to schools. The lesson should, if the mobile phone is not used for research, be "basically a mobile-free time".
The regulation in the house rules is considered a "good way" in Vorarlberg, according to Barbara Schöbi-Fink (ÖVP), the regional education councillor, to the APA. This model is already working in many primary and secondary schools in Vorarlberg. For example, "mobile phone garages" or bans during lessons or from 8.00 to 12.00 or also in the afternoon have been set up via house rules. "Regulations, without involving those affected", she saw as difficult. She emphasized that parents in particular were also affected.
Similarly, the Salzburg regional education councillor Daniela Gutschi (ÖVP): She sees appropriate rules of conduct or regulations due to the different needs and challenges of individual school locations best placed in the area of school autonomy. "Here, schools can individually and as needed establish regulations within the framework of the house rules. There are very different approaches, including the one to integrate the mobile phone specifically into the lessons, which is why a top-down ban is not really purposeful from our point of view", she said in response to an APA inquiry. If there were to be bans or rules of conduct, a uniform solution for all of Austria would make sense from her point of view.
And also her Upper Austrian colleague Christine Haberlander (ÖVP) referred to the house rules. "A recent survey shows that over 85 percent of teachers confirm that there are such clear rules in their schools." At the same time, however, she is open to a general guideline: "In principle, I can support a nationwide mobile phone ban for primary schools." The decisive factor, however, is not the handling at school, but the consumption at home. "Here it is necessary to establish clear rules in the families: A week has 168 hours. Primary school pupils are only in school for just over 20 hours a week. The parents therefore bear a significant responsibility."
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.