The digital break at secondary school: a brilliant idea or a smokescreen?
Banning phones at school: simple and effective, or way off the mark? In this first debate, we talk about it unfiltered, and believe me, it's not as obvious as it sounds.
Is banning really useful?
Phones have been an integral part of teenagers' lives for years. They use them to chat with friends, do homework and sometimes even take classes. So is banning smartphones from middle school really the solution? For many parents, it's a relief: no more arguments in the morning, no more excuses during revision. But behind this simple gesture lies the question: what happens afterwards?
If phones are banned during lessons, the problem doesn't go away . School bullying, for example, is not limited to the use of social networks in class. It takes other forms, in the corridors, at recess and even outside school hours. And let's face it, teenagers have always found ways of getting around the rules, haven't they? A phone left at the entrance can quickly be replaced by another method of staying connected.
Education rather than prohibition: a neglected avenue?
The ban only solvesa small part of the problem. "It's not enough to take the phone away from them, you have to educate them to use it properly". She raises an essential question: why not integrate digital education courses into the curriculum? We could explain to them how social networks work, how these platforms exploit our attention and create addictive behavior.
Because, yes, it's not just a question of depriving our children of a tool, but of teaching them to use it responsibly. Imagine classes where we talk about the impact of screens on concentration, the way likes and comments influenceself-esteem, or the economic mechanisms behind social networking addiction. Wouldn't this make a more lasting difference than a simple ban?
Parents caught in their own contradiction?
How often do we find ourselves glued to our screens as soon as the opportunity arises?
The question then is simple: how can we demand exemplary behavior from our children when we ourselves struggle to disconnect?
Harassment and the telephone: cause or symptom?
What if the problem of bullying at school was much broader than simply the use of the telephone? Of course, social networks make it easier to spread mockery and insults, but it would be too simplistic to think that it stops there. Harassment, whether online or offline, is rooted in the social dynamics of students: it often reflects a wider violence present in everyday interactions.
By suggesting that the problem of harassment can be solved simply by removing the telephone, aren't we running the risk of downplaying the importance of real work on empathy, respect, tolerance and conflict management?
Towards a generalized digital break?
The debate has begun, and this "digital break" could well become the norm in the years to come. But before going any further, the results of this experiment are eagerly awaited.
What's certain is that we'll be keeping a close eye on the feedback from the pilot schools to see if this measure really does improve the well-being of our children, or if it needs to be rethought. Time will tell... but for a clearer idea, I invite you to listen to this episode of "Génération Parents".
The Soft Kids team 🌈
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