Could Denmark ban mobile phones at schools?

The Local - news@thelocal.dk • 9 Jan, 2023

Updated Mon 9 Jan 2023 16:30 CEST
Link: https://www.thelocal.dk/20230109/could-denmark-ban-mobile-phones-at-schools

A spokesperson from one of the parties in Denmark’s coalition government has said he thinks schools
should ban students from bringing mobile phones to class.
The spokesperson for children and education with the Moderate party, Rasmus Lund-Nielsen, last week
told broadcaster DR’s radio programme Radio4 Morgen that he thinks elementary schools (folkeskoler) should
forbid children from having their mobile phones with them during school hours.
“Telephones are simply something that are disruptive because we are used to using them for
entertainment, gaming and social media. A lot of things that have nothing to do with what we do at school,” he
said on the programme.
Lund-Nielsen, who has a background in psychology and has written a book about the effect of screen
use on development, noted that there had already been a number of successful attempts by schools to cut out
smartphone use.
“It is certain that there is a link between increased screen time and unhappiness in children. If you see
your friends with their noses buried in their screens at break time, that makes it difficult to makes good relations
with each other,” he said.
The politician from the Moderates later told broadcaster TV2 that “there is evidence [mobile phones]
hinder concentration”.
“Just having it next to you reduces your cognitive abilities. That’s a problem when we want to challenge
our students at a high level,” he said.
Lund-Nielsen’s view is currently his own personal stance and not an official Moderate – or government –
policy.
He told TV2 it was “important to start the debate”.
Representatives from school associations appear sceptical about the viability of removing phones from
classrooms entirely.
“We can’t deny that they [mobile phones] will be part of our routines for the rest of our lives. Although we
know they can be disruptive, we have to find out how they can be a resource for us, and a ban would not be the
right choice for this,” Marie Holt Hermansen, head of the organisation for elementary school students, Danske
Skoleelever (DSE), told TV2.
A spokesperson for upper secondary schools (gymnasier) called the idea “naïve”.
“We have to educate ourselves to be citizens in a modern world controlled by technology, and at school
we must learn to control ourselves and put our devices aside when we need to concentrate. I trust us young
people to generally be able to do that,” Madeleine Steenberg Williams, head of Danske Gymnasieelevers
Sammenslutning (DGS), told TV2.
Lund-Nielsen told the broadcaster he would listen to other ideas and that his stance over a possible ban
was not “set in stone”.
But a political ban on phones would prevent teachers from having to enforce policies against devices in
classrooms, he noted.
“Many schools do not yet have mobile phone policies, and a ban from the state could be a good way
forward in this case. [Students] fortunately have a lot of time outside of school in which they can use their
phones,” he said.