Most secondary schools allow smartphones

The majority of high schools accept smartphones and use them in education. This is according to a survey by the NOS. Yet there are many concerns in schools about mobile phones, which are said to cause concentration and behavioral problems.

In the NOS survey among 137 secondary schools, only ten schools indicated that smartphones should remain in the locker or at home. It is unclear whether dumbphones are allowed in those schools, or whether there is a complete ban on cell phones. A pre-vocational secondary school in North Brabant states that it has banned the smartphone because the smartphone would distract students and students use it to bully each other.

However, most schools accept the smartphone. At half of the schools, the smartphone may be brought into the classroom, but it may only be used with permission from the teacher. At a quarter of the schools, students are allowed to decide for themselves when they use the smartphone. Of the surveyed schools, 85 percent use the smartphone in education, for example to allow students to communicate with teachers or to use educational apps.

However, the schools that do accept the smartphone also see problems. Although half of the schools say they see the added value of the smartphone, only fifteen of the 137 schools experience no problems at all. Schools complain that students cannot concentrate or pay attention because they are busy with their smartphones. For example, one school community complains that students prefer to use WhatsApp all day long.

Schools also complain about bullying, including sexual harassment, and they see students using smartphones for fraud. In addition, some students film teachers during conflicts, after which they distribute the images among their classmates. The same happens with tests, of which students take pictures and distribute them to classes that have yet to take the test, complains one school.