About 71% of middle school teachers say cell phones have a weak impact on student behavior, according to a survey.
The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) education committee has found in its annual survey that its members have a number of concerns about mobile phones in classrooms.
The survey was conducted in February 2024 and 1,451 members responded.
Meanwhile, 90% of respondents reported that their students had disconnection issues, and the same percentage said they were concerned about students texting during classes.
While 80% stated that students took photos with their phones during class, 60% stated that they were concerned about social media bullying and that phones in the classroom were also effective in this.
Participants also said students were answering calls during classes, displaying inappropriate content, and posting live recordings of classes online.
In total, nearly all survey respondents said their classes were disrupted by their cell phones.
SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said: “92% of members said their lessons had been disrupted by students being asked to put their mobile phones away.
“13 per cent of members said half their classes had been disrupted, but more worryingly, 75% said the majority had all their classes disrupted.”
Members also said students were caught using their phones to play games, listen to music, watch TV shows, and even contact their parents to complain about school staff.
About 86% of survey respondents said they asked students to put their phones away, and 83% said they asked them to put their phones in their school bags.
Two-thirds (67%) said if they are caught using their phone in class, it should be placed on their teacher’s desk.
Some teachers told them to silence their phones, while others asked them to put their phones in a box or similar at the beginning of classes.
Teachers were also issuing detentions, punishments, and messages to parents of schoolchildren caught using phones in class.
He also said that they would confiscate phones, but this led to conflict between students due to the possibility of theft.
SSTA education organizer James Cowans said: “62% of members saw the benefits of using a mobile phone to assist with lessons.
“In many cases this was due to lack of access to other mobile devices or poor connectivity at school.
“64% of members said their wi-fi connection was variable or poor, and 30% said they did not have access to classroom mobile devices to use during their lessons.”
“72% of schools have a cell phone policy to address issues, but only 10% said the policy was extremely/very effective.”
He added: “Schools are struggling to implement successful mobile phone policies.
“There are various issues to be resolved regarding the implementation of a policy, such as inconsistency, legality, compliance by students, lack of consequences, support from local authorities”.
Mr Searson added: “Mobile phones are disrupting teachers from teaching and creating problems for students on a scale many teachers and parents cannot even imagine.
“Mobile phones are the most important asset for students and are taking over their lives and futures.
“The Scottish Government, local authorities and schools need to make a concerted effort to redress the balance between the acceptable use of mobile phones and their place in a young person’s life, working with teachers, students and their families.”
Independent boarding school Gordonstoun has been limiting mobile phone use since 2017 and instructing students since 2023 to leave their phones in boarding houses during the day and hand them in to staff at night.
Sixth graders can keep their phones, but they must be turned off during school days.
Gordonstoun principal Lisa Kerr said the findings were “extremely worrying” and a “wake-up call” to reduce the negative impact of mobile phones in the classroom.
He said: “It seems we have now reached a tipping point where devices are doing more harm than good, preventing teachers from doing their jobs properly.
“Efforts by teachers and schools to ban phone use in classrooms throughout the day must be supported, otherwise children’s education will continue to be negatively affected and behavioral problems will worsen.”
He added: “Every school has dealt with incidents of cyberbullying, but it has completely fallen off the cliff at Gordonstoun.
“Academic focus is much better and we have seen a marked improvement in our academic results over the last five years, which can be partly attributed to our mobile phone policy.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Whilst the Scottish Government does not have the power to unilaterally ban mobile phones in schools, we will be introducing renewed guidance on the use of mobile phones soon.
“As a starting point for this guidance, headteachers should be given the power to take any action they deem necessary, including restricting their use.”