Has Banning Phones Improved Performance At Dutch Schools?

Anna HolliganAmsterdam


Two years ago, Dutch schools prohibited smart devices to lower distractions, boost student concentration, and motivate better scholastic performance. Since then, smart phones, smartwatches and tablets have actually been exiled from classrooms, passages and canteens in schools throughout the Netherlands.


Now the Dutch government wants to go even more, pressing to restrict social media for under-16s and calling for an 15+ age limitation for apps like Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.


At Amsterdam's Cygnus Gymnasium school, a fluorescent yellow indication on the school gates alerts pupils streaming in on their bikes: "Attention: from this point on, your phone should be in your locker. Thank you."


The appealing (in Dutch a minimum of) motto - "Telefoon t'huis of in de kluis" (Phone in the house or in the locker) - now uses across the country.


Instead of passing a law, the government chose a national arrangement with schools, moms and dads and instructors, arguing this would secure buy-in and generate the guidelines quickly without a prolonged legal fight.


In the school passage, outside an English class embellished with artwork portraying different Shakespeare plays, pals Hanna and Fena confide they have actually blended feelings about the ban.


"Since the restriction we need to look out for the instructors, so they do not take the phones," they say. "I think it's irritating but not like it's violating our rights or something like that.


"Maybe now we are a bit more in the minute. In the break nobody is actually on their phones."


Their instructor, Ida Peters, notifications the distinction too. "As a teacher you're always trying to get kids' attention. It's constantly an obstacle to get that focus in class, and now their phones are less present, that definitely helps."


Smartphones are not suggested to be out in UK class either, but without any national guidelines on where they ought to be the remainder of the day, schools and instructors are left to improvise.


In the Netherlands, the across the country arrangement implies the onus is off the instructors. Ms Peters feels this Dutch approach has liberated staff. "There's less friction in class management," she says.


"In the corridors there used to be a lot of inspecting the phone; now it's more unwinded, a calmer atmosphere, not too worried about anything else going on."


Phones aren't allowed at breaks or school celebrations either, Ms Peters adds, so students don't worry that they might be photographed and installed on Snapchat or Instagram. "And when kids are more unwinded, their learning results improve."


Early information supports her impressions.


A government-commissioned study of 317 secondary schools found that about three-quarters reported much better concentration since phones were banned.


Almost two-thirds said the social environment had actually enhanced, and around a third saw better academic efficiency. Other surveys recommend less bullying when devices are gotten of the school day.


Fifteen-year-old Felix and Karel, in the standard uniform of extra-large hoodies and denims, invest between 2 and 5 hours a day on social networks.


Karel keeps his phone charging beside his bed and checks messages as quickly as he awakens; Felix waits up until after breakfast.


"When I initially heard the news, I thought, 'I wish to switch schools because this isn't what I came here for,'" among them admits. "But I haven't actually felt a downside of it. If it occurs in the UK, I think it will have a positive impact on the trainees."


In the Netherlands, the dispute has currently moved onto social networks.


The Dutch federal government formally advises that children under 15 must remain off social media, and the brand-new federal government union desires a Europe-wide, enforceable 15+ minimum age backed by age-verification. They argue that if states can restrict alcohol or gambling, they need to also act when platforms are designed to be addictive.


The three parties in government hold only 66 of 150 seats in parliament, so they require support from others, and any binding guideline on children accessing social media would need to be negotiated at EU level. But public viewpoint appears to be shifting in their favour.


A Unicef survey of more than 1,000 Dutch kids and teens found that 69% favoured a social media restriction for under-18s.


In the exact same study, 28% said platforms should be off-limits for under-12s completely, arguing that more youthful kids must "still be playing outside instead of on their phones" and explaining social networks as addicting, unsafe and bad for their psychological health.


A yearly social networks study by research study firm Newcom found that 60% of 16-to-28-year-olds back an age limit, up from 44% a year back.


This challenges the idea that youths are desperate to be permanently online.


Former education minister Koen Becking indicates "growing proof" that heavy social networks usage is bad for mental health and social interaction, stating Dutch data show children are more sidetracked and more distressed when they have access to gadgets.


Back at Cygnus school, Karel says he would be "a little ravaged" if a social networks ban was imposed.


"I'm a bit addicted, I'm scrolling on TikTok as quickly as I get up or inspecting messages from friends."


But schoolmate Felix is more relaxed: "You 'd get used to it and discover other things to do, so I do not think I would actually mind."


At the same time, the Dutch Research Council is now analyzing the unexpected consequences of the smartphone ban, and whether lacking a phone all the time increases worry of losing out and sets off more intensive phone use after school.


The pupils all insist they are not bingeing more before and after school. But Felix confides that while many students still keep phones in their pockets - so long as teachers do not see - he believes keeping the screens out of sight has actually made them more present.


"People are talking more, going to the stores rather of simply being in the cafeteria on their phones," he states. "We socialise more; social connections have actually improved."


For Dutch children, scrolling on smartphones is no longer a part of school life. The next question for the Netherlands, and perhaps, soon, for the UK, is whether access to the social networks apps need to be consigned to history too.