Class wars
There is a lack of appreciation of the impact which mobile phones have in the classroom or indeed on the mental state of our young people and I say that as someone who has taught in schools [Editor’s letter, Issue 1604, 26 February].
Of course, mobile phones can be used sensibly in the classroom as a learning device –for example in the case of Google Classroom which is quoted in the article.
What the article does not address is the immoral influence which mobile phones via social media have on our young people as well as being DESIGNED to be addictive.
There has been a rapid deterioration of behaviour in our primary schools in Scotland, and education secretary Jenny Gilruth has called a summit of educational professionals to address the problem.
The persistent low-level of disruption when attempting to teach a class with mobile phones being surreptitiously used under desks can be intolerable.
Moreover, when challenged some pupils can become extremely aggressive.
A recent phone-in on Radio Scotland’s morning programme had teachers of 20 years of experience now leaving the profession, as well as disillusioned probationers who were not able to deal with some classes because of both physical and verbal abuse from pupils.
Of course, the majority of pupils do try to be well behaved and wish to learn. Still, there is a growing sizeable minority who are becoming increasingly disruptive and destroying the learning experience for the majority.
There are little or no consequences for such bad behaviour and not all the disruptors are additional support needs pupils.
If you don’t believe me, then perhaps you should spend a day teaching with six different classes of 30 pupils a day in one of our schools. How challenging would that be?
Jim Park, Edinburgh
Phoning it in
I was surprised to see the editor come out so strongly in support of smartphones for children. Just because we do, and can, do something, doesn’t mean we should.
What was interesting was reading between the lines of the editorial: 97% of 12-year-olds have a smartphone, so what about the 3% that don’t? Do we force a smartphone on them, just so that they can be educated?
And regarding Google Classroom, are we happy that Big Tech has control over our education system?
Andy Beverley, London
