“It’d feel like an unusual interpretation to me, but of course we’re listening to experts in this regard.”
Adlercreutz has promised to present his bill for restricting mobile phone use in schools by the year-end, in line with the government programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP).
He stated to the newspaper that although the nature of the bill remains unknown, the bill will seek to clarify the current, somewhat confusing situation. Teachers are presently able to confiscate a mobile phone form a pupil only if the pupil has used it in a way that causes disturbance. Schools are also able to prohibit mobile phone use in class but not at recess in their codes of conduct.
The Chancellor of Justice, however, has ruled that the practice of confiscating mobile phones from pupils for the school day due to disturbance is unlawful, as is pre-emptively collecting mobile phones for the duration of the schoolday against the will of pupils.
Adlercreutz on Monday ruled out the possibility of proposing that pupils would be entirely prohibited from bringing mobile phones to schools.
“But could the ban mean that mobile phones are left somewhere for the schoolday and picked up when pupils go home from school. It’s obvious that [uses for] health-related special needs such as monitoring insulin levels have to be allowed,” he said.
Another option, he added, is to address the issue by increasing the authority of teachers – to enable them to define whether mobile phones are allowed in class.
Unesco last year published an exhaustive report that encouraged national governments to critically evaluate the use of technology in schools, warning that insufficient regulation is endangering the privacy, safety and well-being of children. The report also pointed to evidence that pupils who use their phone for leisure in class may require as long as 20 minutes to refocus on the class theme.
Adlercreutz admitted to Helsingin Sanomat that Finland may not have taken seriously enough the negative effects of mobile phone use in schools.
Constant use of smart devices, he added, can also be a detriment to development on a broader basis.
“Schools are also for learning social skills. International trials have that restricting phone use leads to an increase in play at recess. Play leads to creative activity, lets your imagination run free. I struggle to see that as anything else but a positive,” he said.
Earlier this summer he expressed his support for trialling complete mobile phone bans in randomly selected schools, an idea that was floated in an interview with YLE in July by Ramin Izadi, a special researcher at VATT Institute for Economic Research.
“I think that’s an interesting proposal,” he commented to YLE. “I’ve previously said that I consider this question important. I’ve received a lot of concerned messages from both parents and teachers.”
He outlined that the objective of the upcoming bill is to enable pupils to refocus on what is important – on learning and developing their social skills.
“[The objective is] that schools can be what they were devised to be: places for learning, for developing yourself, for developing your social skills, for a good childhood and adolescence,” he emphasised to the public broadcasting company. “It’s clear that the device in your pocket is what seems to be coming between these goals and young people, and that we have to address.”
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
