Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday pushed for the approval of his bill which seeks to ban cell phones in schools, citing the link between the distraction they cause and poor student performance, and also the results of a Pulse Asia survey which he commissioned that showed 8 out of 10 Filipinos, or 76 percent, in favor of the proposed ban.
“An overwhelming majority of Filipinos across all socioeconomic classes also support a cellphone ban in schools, with the strongest support from Class ABC (80 percent). Seventy-six percent of respondents from D support a cellphone ban in schools, while 71 percent from class E support the proposal,” the senator said in a statement.
On the other hand, 13 percent of the respondents said they disagree, while another 11 percent say they could not say whether they were against or in favor of the proposal.
For Gatchalian, the survey results show that Filipinos see the benefits of such a ban since the distraction due to cellphone use in schools is linked to poorer learner performance.
He cited an analysis of the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment by the Senate committee on basic education, which he chairs, that revealed 8 in 10 Filipino learners age 15 reported being distracted in class by their smartphones, while another 8 out of 10 also said they were distracted by other students using smartphones.
Senate Bill No. 2706, or the Electronic Gadget-Free Schools Act, seeks to prohibit mobile devices and electronic devices among kindergarten to senior high school students during classes.
Gatchalian earlier said he believed mobile phones reduce the reading, study, and social time of students, noting they waste a lot of time on social media. He added that his bill was in line with his bid to encourage more Filipinos to read books.
Considering how dependent humans of all ages have become on mobile phones and digital devices, the bill will require a lot of fine tuning and consultations with parents, teachers, and school administrators who will be most affected by any ban on cell phones. The benefits are obvious, but when it comes to implementation, the devil is in the details. One potential issue is how the devices can be kept for safekeeping and safely retrieved when classes are over, as some students no longer know any way on how to contact their guardians when it is time to go home.
Hopefully the authors of the law have thought about this, and many other potential factors that could derail the implementation of what should be another well-meaning law.*
