Some schools have begun implementing the Department for Education’s new policy, which will see mobile phone use banned during school hours in the state’s public high schools.

The policy is intended to help create the best possible learning environment for students, reduce cyberbullying and give students a break from screens.

Aberfoyle Park High School has already introduced the ban on phones during school time for its 1100-plus students.

The school’s principal Marion Coady said the school was seeing improvements in students’ interactions with their teachers and other students, and in student behaviour.

“Teachers are saying that there are less disruptions in class,” Coady said, noting that students were also completing more work in a shorter period of time.

Coady had been working with the school’s governing council on developing a mobile phone policy last year when the Department for Education announced its policy.

Provided with this framework, the school then consulted parents and teachers on the issue to understand and respond to any concerns.

For Aberfoyle Park High School this has meant allowing students access to their phones to pay for canteen lunches, and carrying their switched off phones in Yondr pouches.

The school also has a plan to deal with breaches of the policy, enabling classroom teachers to focus on teaching, not disciplinary actions.

The department’s policy also offers some exemptions to the ban, including for students who use their phones to monitor or manage a health condition, or, in some cases, to assist students with learning.

Schools can choose to allow their students to use personal devices in certain learning situations or for other agreed purposes.

Coady said while her school currently does not have a clear picture of the ban’s impact on learning outcomes, they will know more when the mid-semester grades are released at the end of term 1.

“I have the comparison data from previous years. So, I can have a look at the year nines and [compare their progress from the same point of time] in year eight,” she said.

Aberfoyle Park wellness team member Shauna Thompson said there had been fewer students needing the team’s support for uncompleted class work.

“The numbers have gone down where students are referred to work completion, because they’re actually getting more work within their class,” Thompson said.

She also noticed significant changes outside the classroom.

“One of the biggest changes is their social interactions at lunchtime. The teaching staff really noticed at the very beginning that kids weren’t on their screens or on their phones. They were interacting with each other,” she said.

Problem solving and resilience were also up, she noted.

“If you can’t contact your parents immediately there’s a little hiccup for you during the day, you’re more likely to either problem solve it or seek someone out at school, like one of the staff.

“So, I think we’re involved in that a little bit more.”

Principal Coady believes the disconnection from social media and online activities is beneficial and said, “it gives students a break from some of the pressures that they feel”.

While phone use is banned during school hours, she said the school continues to educate students on the responsible use of social media, including from a legal perspective.

Interestingly, the number of students with phones at school has dropped since the ban was implemented.

“Last year, we would have said probably 95 per cent [of students carried a phone],” Coady said.

“There’s an increasing number of students now who are choosing not to have their mobile phones at school.”

The mobile phone ban in all South Australian public high schools start from term 3 2023.

For more information, visit phonesoff.sa.gov.au