From KG to high school: Smartphones face ban in Philippine classrooms

Manila: Students in the Philippines might soon have to ditch their phones during class hours.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian is pushing for a ban on mobile devices and electronic gadgets in schools, citing their detrimental effects on learning and the rise of cyberbullying.

Senate Bill (SB) No. 2706, or the "Electronic Gadget-Free Schools Act," proposes the Department of Education (DepEd) to establish clear guidelines for the ban.

From KG to high school

This would apply to students from kindergarten to senior high school, in both public and private institutions, and even teachers themselves.

While acknowledging the potential of technology in education, Senator Gatchalian emphasized the “distraction tax” excessive phone use levies on students' academic performance.

He cited a Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 analysis showing 80 per cent of 15-year-old learners reported being distracted by their own phones or classmates'.

This distraction, according to PISA, translates to a significant drop in scores - a potential 9.3 points lower in math, 12.2 points in science, and a whopping 15.04 points lower in reading!

Gatchalian isn't alone in his concerns.

A 2023 report by UNESCO recommends stricter phone regulations in classrooms. Currently, only 13 per cent of countries have a complete or partial ban, while another 14 per cent have guidelines in place.

Earlier studies, including a "cross-sectional" research published in the journal BMC Psychiatry in 2021 investigated smartphone addiction among students. It examined the correlation between smartphone addiction and mental health factors like depression and anxiety, along with sleep quality and nicotine dependence.

The findings suggest a potential link between smartphone addiction and other mental health issues.

The Philippine Senate bill, however, isn’t a blanket ban.

Exceptions are made for learning activities, students with specific health needs requiring devices, and emergency situations.

But for the most part, it’s looking like Filipino classrooms might become phone-free zones.

SMART

Studies show smartphones are highly addictive, pushing phone use past the point of helpfulness and into the realm of a major addiction. This isn't surprising as phone functionality keeps expanding, fueling our dependence on these “indispensable gadgets”. Even mental health professionals are taking notice, using diagnostic tools to recognise and understand this new kind of behavioral addiction.