Use of mobile phones prohibited in Valencian classrooms
Since 2019, notifications for inappropriate mobile use have doubled and cases of cyberbullying have increased almost 50%.
It has been confirmed that mobile phones have been banned in the classrooms in the Comunidad Valenciana with two exceptions: teaching activities under the supervision of teaching staff and specific individual health or other duly justified reasons that must be authorized by the management of the educational centre.
This has been explained by the Minister of Education, José Antonio Rovira, who has announced the resolution prepared by the Department of Education, Universities and Employment (click here) on the regulation of the use of mobile devices in non-university educational centers, supported with public funds from the Comunidad Valenciana.
Rovira explained the content of the resolution in a hearing in which the main results related to the context evaluation of the educational system were also presented, in which 1,765 public, subsidized and private centres in the Comunidad Valenciana participated, providing nearly 170,000 responses.
The purpose of the resolution is to regulate the use of mobile devices in educational centres during the school day (teaching hours, recreation time and periods dedicated to the development of complementary and extracurricular activities). The general rule will be that the use of mobile phones is limited to educational activities in which their use is required.
In the event of possible non-compliance, each centre will establish the procedure for withdrawal, temporary custody and return of the devices. The resolution emphasizes that before its removal, teaching staff “must ensure that the student turns it off as a guarantee of confidentiality”. Keeping said devices operational will be understood as use.
The minister pointed out that the resolution “reinforces the role of teachers and their authority in the classrooms”, and has stated that decision-making must be based on the principles of necessity, proportionality and efficiency.
The scope of application of this resolution is non-university educational centres supported with public funds from the Comunidad Valenciana. In turn, private non-university educational centres may benefit from the provisions of this resolution.
Rovira pointed out the importance of promoting responsible digital education among children and young people and, in this sense, has stated that “this implies establishing restrictions on time, purpose and place of use, both inside and outside educational environments, and this responsibility falls on all members of the educational community”.
The resolution has been presented coinciding with the celebration of World Day against Bullying. The general director of Educational Innovation and Inclusion, Xaro Escrig, explained that “in recent years, an indiscriminate use of technology has been detected that, without adult supervision, can develop certain repetitive and disruptive behaviours in the educational and social field, causing difficulties in the learning process and in the management of coexistence in educational centres“.
Escrig has highlighted that, according to the data collected in the Itaca Previ registry, there is a higher proportion of cases of cyberbullying detected by the management teams of the centres. In addition, since 2019, notifications for inappropriate mobile use have doubled (145 to 270) and cases of cyberbullying have increased by almost 50%.
