Calvijn College was one of the first schools in the Netherlands to ban mobile phones. Four years on, officials report its culture has been transformed

Six years ago, as officials at the Netherlands’ Calvijn College began considering whether to ban phones from their schools, the idea left some students aghast.

“We were asked whether we thought we were living in the 1800s,” said Jan Bakker, the chair of the college, whose students range in age from 12 to 18 years.

While the majority backed the idea, about 20% of the parents, teachers and students surveyed were staunchly opposed. Some were parents who worried about not being able to get hold of their children during the day, while a handful of teachers argued it would be better to embrace new technologies rather than shun them.

Still, school officials pushed forward. “Walking through the corridors and the school yard, you would see all the children were on their smartphones. Conversations were missing, the table tennis tables were empty,” said Bakker. “Basically we were losing the social culture.”

  • Whirling_Cloudburst@lemmy.worldEnglish
    91·
    4 months ago

    I’ve been waiting for the Ultraviolet Paper Phone for years. If they existed, I bet they would be sneaking them in. They might even have blackmarket phones being sold in school. They can’t surf the web or use apps though.

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    • RBG@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      10·
      4 months ago

      Yeah and that’s actually exactly the problem that they are trying to solve. No one is taking any phone calls in class, they are browsing tiktok and diss each other on YouTube and whatever.

  • ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    4 months ago

    I am totally fine with this strategy. My oldest just got his first phone, mostly so he could connect with his friends and contact my wife and I in an emergency. His school requires all students to put their phones in a container when they enter a class (they also have several charging ports available in each classroom, so students can charge their phones during class - a very considerate feature).

    From what I can tell no kids or their parents have a problem with this. My wife and I certainly don’t. It helps instill sensible technology usage habits in our kid. And it gives him more independence from us. And in this case, kids can still use their phones during lunch and before/after school. But just not during classes. Not only is this a very reasonable requirement IMO, it’s an excellent way to get them to interact more.

    Framing this requirement as “going back in time” is silly. Certainly in situations where kids are only banned from using their phones in class.