Should you let your kids bring and use their mobile phones while in school?
This is a dilemma many parents ask themselves in today's gadget-centered lifestyle. But in a new study published in the London School of Economics, a team of researchers said mobile phone use in school may not be a good idea.
The scope of the study covered schools located in four English cities with about 130,000 pupils. It looked into the policies of schools about use of mobile phones from 2001 to the present, and the researchers have determined that in schools where mobile phone use is prohibited, the students exhibited improved test scores by 6.4 percent. This effectively is quantified as an "equivalent to an additional hour a week in school, or to increasing the school year by five days," lead researchers Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy said, CNN Money reported.
Among low-achieving students, however, the impact brought better results, with a 14 percent increase in their test scores. "The results suggest that low-achieving students are more likely to be distracted by the presence of mobile phones, while high achievers can focus in the classroom regardless of the mobile phone policy," the researchers added.
In the United Kingdom, at least 90 percent of kids own mobile devices, while in the United States, at least three quarters of teenagers use one, according to The Guardian. Accessibility and convenience offered by mobile phones contribute to its widespread use, but to many school officials and parents, this has become a growing concern. In many countries, banning of mobile phones in school has been an ongoing debate, according to Time Magazine.
Teachers have been accorded the right to confiscate mobile phones from students since 2007, even as there is no government rulings, according to a BBC report, so schools have been making their own policies. In New York, however, Mayor Bill De Blasio removed the ban on use of mobile phones in school premises citing that this will reduce inequality.
However, Beland and Murphy disagree with the mayor's decision.
"Schools could significantly reduce the education gap by prohibiting mobile phone use, and so by allowing phones, New York may unintentionally increase the inequalities of outcomes," they said in their report.
