The Xunta has decided to prohibit the use of mobile phones in schools starting with the Christmas holidays, so that these devices will not be able to be used by students in the classrooms – which was no longer allowed now – but not outside of school either. class schedule.
The president of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, explained that it remains to be determined up to what age this prohibition will last – 16 or 18 years – a question that is pending to be decided.
In any case, the use of cell phones will be prohibited in public centers, as well as in private and subsidized centers, both during breaks, in cafeterias and in extracurricular activities, and it will be a change that will already be implemented “on the return of the Christmas holidays,” Rueda specified.
Thus, Galicia joins the communities of Castilla y León, Madrid and Andalusia that have decided to limit the use of telephones in educational centers. In the rest of the communities, the rules for telephone use are at the discretion of each center.
In this sense, last Monday, the Vice-Ministry of Educational Development and Vocational Training of the Government of Andalusia issued an instruction for the regulation of telephone use in Andalusian centers that contemplates, among other measures, limiting it during the school day, except with exclusively didactic purposes and “duly justified” pedagogical criteria, as well as the withdrawal of devices due to “non-compliance” with the rules of coexistence.
In this instruction, already in force, it is stated that “the adoption of measures for the promotion, risk prevention and safety in the use of the Internet and information technologies by minors is a priority to guarantee “the protection of those against abuse and violence of all kinds that occur through the internet and mobile phones.”
There are no regional regulations, but in the instructions for the start of the 23/24 course, the regional government established, for the first time, the need for each center to regulate the use of mobile phones and other devices in its regulations, and advised not to take it into account. school hours (except for educational purposes) or during breaks to promote relationships between equals.
It concerns the pedagogical autonomy of each center and there is a coexistence decree in force that classifies as a serious offense the recording or dissemination, without authorization, through mobile phones or any other means of images or comments that are related to school life, and as a very serious offense if the content is sexual. Very serious offenses may lead to expulsion.
Cell phones have been banned in class since 2014, making it the first region to do so. It is only allowed if teachers consider it appropriate for educational purposes, such as a subject on technologies.
It is regulated by the organization and operating rules of each center. Until now, cell phones are seen as a teaching resource, but depending on the center and its rules, sometimes their use is also allowed during recess.
There is no specific regulation, but it depends on the internal regulations prepared by the management team and approved by the school council.
On the other hand, this community was a pioneer in launching an anti-harassment telephone line, which works 24 hours a day and is staffed by psychologists 365 days a year.
It is regulated in the organization and operation regulations of the center. Generally, the mobile phone is prohibited, but sometimes it is allowed as a teaching tool, for example the use of the Kahoot application (to take tests).
The centers regulate the use of mobile phones in their Organization and Operating Standards. It is in the NOF of each center that specifically reflects how it will be done, adjusting to its characteristics.
Centers have the autonomy to decide what use they make of mobile phones in their spaces.
In a communication made public last September, the department indicates that the role that technologies play in the classroom “is a fundamental issue for the Catalan educational system” and that the school “is not alien to the social context that surrounds it” therefore that “it is logical that the different technical advances such as computers, projectors, touch boards, tablets, and also mobile phones have been accessed and used normally.”
It is an issue that concerns the centers, which in general do not allow their use except in exceptions, in which a teacher may authorize them to carry out a specific activity.
Each center has its rules when it comes to restricting devices. The Department does not give guidelines.
The centers establish the use of mobile phones based on their conditions and characteristics. The Board has a Guide for the Good Educational Use of ICT (information and communication technologies).
Centers are given autonomy to regulate the use of mobile phones in classrooms and recreation areas. There is no prohibition by the Department of Education. If a teacher considers at a certain time that it can help him in his pedagogical work, its use is permitted.
A year ago, EH Bildu asked the Basque Parliament to regulate the use of cell phones and electronic devices in classrooms, but PNV and PSE opposed them and opted for responsible “cybercoexistence.”
There are no regional regulations that regulate this issue in the centers, whose management teams have the autonomy to do so. There are some who consider that it is an educational instrument and do not regulate it. In others, as recently happened in the municipality of Grado, two institutes have agreed at the same time to prohibit its use during school hours.
