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Writer's pictureIan Ritchie

Responsible education is in our hands

Ian Ritchie / The Herald Business HQ / November 2024


RECENT YEARS have seen lots of “war on” campaigns, an odd term for things that can’t fight back: “War on Drugs”, “War on Poverty”, “War on Cancer” etc, so the recent “War on Smartphones”, shouldn’t be much of a surprise, particularly when applied to schools.


New Zealand has now announced a complete ban on schoolchildren using or accessing their smartphones in schools, and a Labour MP, Josh MacAllister, has brought forward a bill proposing banning phones in schools here. Lots of UK schools already force their students to leave their phones behind when they attend classes.


Have we gone completely mad?


It reminds me a bit of when I was in primary school and was forced to learn to write using a nibbed pen and inkwell because ball point pens were considered a bit too revolutionary and might not catch on – yes, I really am that old.


But what could I have done with a supercomputer in my pocket?


My language skills could have been transformed by online foreign language practice; my maths could have been more effectively explained by animated displays; physics concepts such as the laws of Newtonian motion or of thermodynamics could be made very clear.


Educational apps could quickly demonstrate how compound interest works; geography students could gain instant access to Wikipedia entries of physical and economic statistics; English classes could immediately call up spectacular dramatic performances from Ian McKellen, Judy Dench or Laurence Olivier.


The world has been totally transformed by the arrival of the smartphone.


Today’s schoolchildren will spend the rest of their lives with a supercomputer as their constant companion, so, instead of banning them, shouldn’t we spend time teaching them how to use them properly?


Students should be taught how the apps work, particularly how much of the information on phones is fake, so-called "clickbait", designed to attract you to stay online for longer. They should be told how to use search engines effectively and how to get the result they really want.


Students should be told how to tell the difference between "real" news and "fake" news – it should be explained how journalism works and how reputable news providers, such as major newspapers and broadcasters make huge efforts, with reporters assigned to investigate the stories and confirm that their reports are as accurate as possible.


By contrast, a lone conspiracy theorist can put up information that can look reasonable, but which is complete fantasy. There is no way, just by looking at a web page, to tell the genuine from the fake, so you need to check the source and know which are the reliable ones. Students should be shown as best as possible how to recognise real, reliable, information from scams.


Everyone needs to know how to check the attached email address instead of relying on the label, to always be suspicious when invited to click on an embedded link, and always be alerted to offers that are too good to be true – almost certainly they will be.


Students should be taught how to use the various useful tools on their smartphone: the maps, weather, compass, calculator, spirit level and so on. They should also learn how to use conversion tools to convert miles to kilometres, pounds to euros, and how to look up real-time bus and train times


Modern smartphones are also powerful cameras and so some instruction on how to use the camera would be very useful. The advanced features of these cameras are mind-blowing – from shooting and editing HD video scenes, to using them as microscopes, or shooting time-lapse or ultra slow-motion video.


It would appear that the main reason behind the desire to ban smartphones in schools is the misuse by young people of social media and pornography, in which case students shouldn’t be left in the dark.


They should be taught the facts of life – that pornography emphasises extreme activities and is not a realistic portrayal of normal healthy relationships, and that social media can be very harmful if misused. Cases should be presented on how bullying behaviour can easily lead to tragic circumstances, and how to seek help if you are showing signs of depression.


However, if lawmakers were doing their job properly, rather than trying to ban smartphones they should concentrate on forcing the social media and pornography industry to clean up their act and block access to young users.


Proper, verifiable, age certification should be a standard feature on these devices, and social media companies should build systems that detect and block discussion of unsuitable subjects, such as suicide or terrorist activities.


Students will soon leave school, and a smartphone will be their constant companion - lets teach them how to use them responsibly and effectively.


After all, for the rest of my life, I’ve been writing successfully with ballpoint pens.


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