The use of mobile phones in classrooms has become a source of conflict in institutes and schools, but also a political weapon to stir up social debate. The Ministry of Education has stepped down before the autonomies with a strict proposal: prohibiting telephones during school hours in schools and institutes. The Ministry of Education, which remembers that the Ministry does not have the power to make that decision, delays the proposal and will continue with its plan to regulate its use after the assessment of a group of experts who, on the other hand, have not yet been appointed.
The Minister of Education, Pilar Alegría, announced on Wednesday, during a break in her meeting with the autonomies to discuss another issue, her intention to prohibit the use of mobile phones in schools and institutes, due to “concern” in a part of families and teachers. The Ministry will propose »zero use of mobile phones during school hours in Primary and Secondary Schools«, except in those situations in which the teacher »considers it necessary for pedagogical activity«.
With this measure, the Minister of Education wants to give “an answer to this concern that so many families and the educational community itself share.” To apply it, the Spanish Government must reach an agreement in January with the different autonomous communities, which are the ones that have the powers to apply these educational policies. Alegría defended that cell phones should be completely prohibited during school hours in the six Primary years and that the use of smartphones will also be prohibited as a general rule during school hours in ESO, Baccalaureate and FP institutes with the sole exception except that the teacher authorizes them in class under his supervision and to develop pedagogical content. Alegría also explained that, before making a decision, she wants to extend the reflection and debate to the rest of the country's educational community (parents, teachers and students), so she intends to discuss the matter with these groups in the State School Council. .
The Ministry's proposal has not been well received by the Ministry of Education, which already had its plan underway – although without great progress – to agree on its own regulation on mobile phone use. The Community, which remembers that the State has no powers, announced a month ago its plan to form a group of experts “to work in search of a normative, regulatory and preventive framework that offers guarantees.” The team will be made up of directors of educational centers, specialized teachers, families, pedagogues, psychologists, the Prosecutor's Office and the Judiciary, State security forces, computer scientists and the technological sector, who will maintain periodic and permanent contact and will regulate “a normative, regulatory and preventive compendium updated at all times,” say sources from the Ministry of Education.
The Ministry of Education is not currently considering a strict prohibition on the use of telephones for personal and recreational use in schools and institutes, as other communities such as Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia and the Community of Madrid have done, and Catalonia and Valencia finalize. But it does want to reorganize the use of all digital tools in the educational field and, to this end, it plans to create a group of experts “to work in search of a normative, regulatory and preventive framework that offers guarantees.”
Three autonomies have already prohibited the use of cell phones in schools. They are Castilla-La Mancha and Galicia, since 2014, and Madrid, since 2020. Currently the debate has been opened in Catalonia, where the Generalitat is preparing guidelines to guide schools and institutes. In the Region, the 2016 regulation is currently maintained, which establishes that the rules of behavior regarding authorization to use mobile phones must be included in the internal regulations of each center, which are drawn up by the management teams, the faculty and the school council. . However, the coexistence order does establish sanctions that punish inappropriate and unauthorized use of cell phones, which can range from the removal of the device to expulsion from the center.
Institutes therefore have room to limit the recreational use of mobile phones at school and, while some allow students to activate them during recess, more and more have strictly prohibited it. This is the case of IES Alfonso X in Murcia, where students cannot turn on their phones during recess either. The youngest students, first and second years of ESO, do not even use cell phones for schoolwork in class, and personal and recreational use is prohibited and sanctioned for everyone. If students use the device improperly, it is removed and their parents must pick it up at the center.
In other centers, such as Sanje de Alcantarilla and Ramón y Cajal, they allow use during recess and adopt pedagogical measures, such as the voluntary deposit of the devices in a box during classes. The regional coexistence regulations do establish sanctions to penalize the misuse of cell phones, which range from the removal of the phone when it is used without permission, which is a minor offense; up to expulsion in the event that it is used to record and humiliate classmates and teachers.
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