# Should Schools Ban Phones? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2023, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-ban-phones/985135 "2023-06-07T02:50:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-ban-phones/985135/141 "2024-09-10T08:45:46Z")
More international comparisons: > **[‘Going back in time’: the schools across Europe banning mobile phones](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/09/dutch-school-that-banned-mobile-phones-calvijn-college)** > > Calvijn College was one of the first schools in the Netherlands to ban mobile phones. Four years on, officials report its culture has been transformed ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-ban-phones/985135/142 "2024-09-10T11:08:55Z")
That’s a confusing article for me as an American, because in the US a “college” is an institution of higher education, whose students are (at least technically) adults. But apparently the Calvijn College mentioned is a secondary school (like a US high school)? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-ban-phones/985135/143 "2024-09-11T06:29:44Z")
Yes. “College” is not limited in use, in the UK and France as well, to higher education. It seems to be more a matter of size and by implication some sort of exclusivity or (wouldbe) poshness - not just a common or garden “school”. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2024, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-ban-phones/985135/144 "2024-11-01T18:21:04Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Some of that is multifaceted such as a student taking a photo of another student over the stall wall to then bully and humiliate them. Well, that specific instance the school could simply call the police and have the offender arrested for voyeurism and child pornography. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-ban-phones/985135/145 "2024-11-01T18:58:49Z")
That makes some pretty optimistic assumptions about police response and ability to track down the originating photo if its being shared with other students through online channels. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-ban-phones/985135/146 "2024-11-02T01:43:28Z")
I understand police departments highly prioritize child pornography, even if it was made by another child. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2024, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-ban-phones/985135/147 "2024-11-02T02:01:45Z")
I’ll say it again: cell phones disrupt learning. > [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > For it to work benefiting ALL kids it must be communicated well, then followed consistently, reliably and predictably. Every.Time.Every Class.Every. Teacher. Let’s add one more, since this is, IME, the crux of the matter: Every administrator. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2024, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-ban-phones/985135/148 "2024-11-02T02:37:08Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I understand police departments highly prioritize child pornography, even if it was made by another child. Eh, rather than hijacking the thread with skepticism on that (or caring enough to branch off a new one), I’ll keep it directly tied to the OP and say that (a) 13 year olds aren’t renown for their risk/reward analysis; (b) Cases where a student sharing nude photos have ended in a criminal charge often took months and months for any real action (which ties back to point A, “Hey, if you do this you might be in real trouble eight months from now” isn’t a great teenage-brain deterrent); (c) At that point the damage to the other student is well done, just like you don’t assume “We tell our knife-wielding students that if you stab a student, you’ll be charged with assault” is going to help a stabbed kid; (d) The school doesn’t want criminal activity taking place on its grounds even if the student perpetrators are eventually caught and punished since it still works against the idea of school as a safe environment. Especially if we’re relying on punishing it as sex-based crimes occurring inside the school. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2024, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-ban-phones/985135/149 "2024-11-02T02:45:52Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Yes. “College” is not limited in use, in the UK and France as well, to higher education. There’s an Australian sketch comedy troupe called Aunty Donna that has several sketches set at a place called “Glennridge Secondary College”, which I think is supposed to be the equivalent of an American middle school. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dH-yciPU7GY/maxresdefault.jpg "The School Nurse: A Special Report") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH-yciPU7GY) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-schools-ban-phones/985135.md?page=7)