The Bermuda Public School System (BPSS) will act “more rigorously” on its personal electronic device policy in light of concerns including the mental health of students, cyberbullying, unsafe social-media content and “sexting” (see regional story). Minister of Education Crystal Caesar wrote to parents and guardians outlining the policy, which mandates that devices including mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets and gaming devices must be switched off and placed “out of sight” while students are on school grounds.
One of the key concerns is the increasing amount of time students spend on mobile phones and other personal electronic communication devices during the school day, which government says distract from learning, disrupt the classroom environment and often negatively impact mental health, peer relationships and safety due to issues such as social-media content, online messaging and cyberbullying.
Bermuda is just one of many countries like St. Maarten dealing with this issue. Recent studies in among others the Netherlands also confirm related consequences, including reduced reading skills. Most local schools already have measures regarding this matter in place, but perhaps should consider sharpening these as well.
According to BPSS, mobile phones and devices including smartwatches, gaming consoles and Bluetooth accessories must be turned off and stored away before entering the school. They may not be switched on again until students leave the building at the end of the day. Parents can reach the main office at any time and messages are delivered to the students by the administrator.
Some might consider that too drastic, but just think of the ongoing school fights. Without devices to record and share these, the practice will become far less interesting.
Of course, this does stop such incidents from occurring once outside the school premises. However, by now it seems clear that limiting access while being educated is probably in the best long-term interest of those directly involved.
