The national agreement to no longer allow mobile phones in the classroom will also apply to primary and special education from the 2024/2025 school year. In secondary education, the agreement took effect at the beginning of 2024.
This spring, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) commissioned surveys in primary and special education. A total of 494 primary schools and 317 schools for special primary and secondary education took part.
Primary schools do not consider the use of mobile phones in the classroom a major problem. More than 70 percent of schools already have policies that are in line with the national agreement. Few primary school students bring a phone to school.
Schools for special education also generally do not experience major problems with mobile phones. Most schools already do not allow them. However, there are differences between types of education: students in special secondary education are more likely to bring mobile phones with them.
In February, the Kohnstamm Institute also reported on a survey in secondary education that was conducted at the end of 2023. Eighty percent of the nearly 600 participating schools had already drawn up a policy for the mobile phone ban, and most had already implemented it. Schools where the ban had already been implemented reported greater student concentration in class and more social interaction between students.
Making use of new technology
Vincent Fafieanie of the Netherlands Youth Institute argues that schools should take a broader approach in their policies than simply banning mobile phones from the classroom. “Young people use their mobile phones to stay in touch via all kinds of social media. This causes distraction in the classroom. But the mobile phone also represents new technology that schools cannot simply reject. Children need to learn how to use it properly. Education can contribute to this. Education can also make use of the new technology itself. For example, you can ban the use of ChapGPT, but you can also consider how to use it as an educational tool.”
Supporting social interactions
According to Fafieanie, schools would also do well to support students in their social interactions. “All kinds of research show that interactions between students are returning now that they are no longer constantly bent over their phones. There is much more conversation and social contact. Schools must also pay attention to this. Because I also hear that more arguments and conflicts are arising. I know of schools that purchase games for use in the cafeteria. This allows schools to promote positive social interaction.”