Tighten phone management in schools

Students use smart devices in the classroom. Photo: Lam An.

Management is not "ban"

The Hanoi Department of Education and Training has just sent a request to the heads of the Department of Education and Training of districts, towns, and cities, along with directors of vocationaleducation and continuing education centers and principals of affiliated schools to improve the effectiveness of managing the use of mobile phones and receiving and broadcasting devices in schools. In particular, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training requested the Board of Directors and teachers of schools and vocational education and continuing education centers to disseminate, thoroughly understand, and strictly and fully implement the regulations on the use of mobile phones and receiving and broadcasting devices in schools in Circular No. 32/2020/TT-BGDDT and Official Dispatch No. 5512/BGDDT-GDTrH.

Specifically, Circular 32 clearly stipulates that students are not allowed to use cell phones or other devices while studying in class that are not used for learning purposes and are not permitted by teachers.

According to the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, depending on actual conditions, the Board of Directors and teachers of schools manage students' phones and receiving and broadcasting devices before the first class (managed by class) and return phones and receiving and broadcasting devices to students after school and class. In classes that require the use of mobile phones and receiving and broadcasting devices and are permitted by teachers, students are allowed to bring mobile phones and receiving and broadcasting devices into the classroom for use.

Le Thanh Hung (10th grade student, Dong My High School, Hanoi) said that from the beginning of the school year, the homeroom teacher reminded students not to use phones during class. During the parent-teacher meeting, the teacher also mentioned this to the parents so that they could work with her to manage students' use of phones in class, so the whole class happily cooperated. "The teacher allows students to bring phones to class, but only when there is an emergency in the middle of class, otherwise they usually hand them in at the beginning of class and take them back at the end of class. Because she doesn't "forbid" it, we don't have to hide the fact that we bring phones to class," Hung said.

Cooperate with families to manage students well

With the function of recording video and audio, many fights or recently a clip of students teasing a teacher at a high school in Hanoi were recorded and then posted on social networks. Instead of preventing or reporting to teachers and supervisors to intervene, avoiding serious consequences, some students stood around watching, filming clips, and even cheering on deviant behavior. The ugly images in schools were kept, but from another perspective, a teacher with more than 20 years of experience as a homeroom teacher at a secondary school said that it was because of these public clips that school violence cases were handled seriously. “The violent incidents reported in the media are just a small tip of the iceberg. In reality, in many schools, students swearing at their classmates, threatening them, beating them, even using weapons, happen quite a lot, but when teachers find out, they can only coordinate with their families to educate and manage their children. It is very difficult to handle it strongly because if it is a big deal, the homeroom teacher and principal will also be disciplined, affecting the competition of the whole school, so it is often better to raise the bar and hit them lightly,” this teacher shared.

Therefore, this teacher thinks that instead of banning students from bringing their phones to class, we can use a "remembering box" management method, which means that students who bring their phones to class at the beginning of the class will voluntarily set the ringer and vibrate off and put them in this box, leave them on the teacher's desk and take them back at the end of the class or when the teacher requests to use their phones for studying. Sharing this view, Mr. Nguyen Van Thinh - Principal of Le Loi High School (Tan Ky, Nghe An ) said that at school, students are allowed to bring their phones to school, but when entering the school, they must hand them over to the homeroom teacher or the class committee. If using an absolute ban, Mr. Thinh is worried that it will cause inhibition for students, especially in the context of digital transformation teaching, many lessons require students to use their phones for group work and recording. However, teachers need to closely monitor and coordinate with parents to remind and guide students not to use their phones during class without the teacher's permission.

Meanwhile, around the world, the concept of protecting children from the strong influence of smartphones is being carried out by many countries. In the 2024-2025 school year, France will pilot a ban on the use of mobile phones in schools for students under 15 years old. Previously, in a plan to improve student behavior as well as reduce disruption in the classroom, the British Ministry of Education said that mobile phones will be banned in all schools.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/siet-quan-ly-dien-thoai-trong-truong-hoc-10292307.html