Since January 1 cell phones have not been welcome in the classroom. They cause poorer school performance among students. At the Van Maerlantlyceum in Eindhoven, they are going one step further. Teachers don’t want to see cell phones even during intervals or breaks.
Not all students leave their phones at home or put them in their lockers. “I just put it in my bag and know that others do the same,” said a girl from 6-vwo.
Students come up with creative ways to look at their phones anyway. “Some take breaks outside the school grounds and we also feel that it is busier at the toilets,” says Alexia Dirksen, principal of the Van Maerlantlyceum.
According to the principal, the ban on cell phones in the school is also important for students’ social development. This way, they are forced to talk to each other more. “We see that students are bringing games to school and the volume of noise at recess is higher,” he said.
Policeman
At the Van Maerlantlyceum, there is generally no witch hunt for cell phones. “We don’t play policeman so we don’t check bags. But it is fun to hunt for phones at recess. My counter shows two phones till now,” says Mads Bijsterveld, Spanish teacher.
Students caught with a phone may pick it up at the service point in school at the end of the day, between 4 and 4:30 p.m.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Chaitali Sengupta.
