In a Valencian Order to be published tomorrow, mobile phones will be banned in schools and educational institutes as from Monday next, 6th May 2024.
They will be banned inside the school, in play and recreational areas and extra curricula classes. Some junior schools have already banned them in classes for some time but this new ruling bans their use throughout except in two particular cases. 1 is if the class deals with a lesson held through the internet or 2 if there is a medical or family reason for having them which must be cleared by the school board first.
This has been brought about due to lack of attention in classes and the increase in bullying using mobiles to pass messages.
So if you have a child in school here in the Valencian region, make sure they leave their phones at home before attending. In the case of non compliance, the school will have a protocol for taking temporary custody of the phones and will not be returned until after school ends plus a letter to the parents warning them of the new rules. One part of the protocol is that the child must turn the phone off and disable it before being impounded to protect confidentiality. Some schools issue "points" when this rule has been violated and, if they exceed a certain amount of points, will be allowed to permanently confiscate the phone.
The council has stressed that this measure is being taken to reinforce the role of teachers and their authority in the classroom and to avoid harm to the child's academic progress.
The resolution was announced today which is World Day Against Bullying after so-called cyberbullying has been shown to have increased by more than 50% since 2019.