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Schools look askance as human rights watchdog urges lifting of classroom phone bans

Published: 08 Jan. 2024, 17:11 Updated: 08 Jan. 2024, 17:15

CHO JUNG-WOO
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Phones collected from students at a high school in Daejeon on Sept. 1, 2023. [NEWS1]

“It takes over 10 minutes after class starts to collect the tablet computers the students get from the education office,” the vice principal at a high school in South Gyeongsang complained.

“Some show their irritation and even curse. If we allow them to keep their smartphones, teachers will be completely unable to conduct classes.”

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (Nhrck) last year recommended schools stop confiscating phones, including the vice principal's school in South Gyeongsang, contending that the school rule forcing students to give up their phones before class was “an apparent violation of human rights.”

However, many schools refused to take the recommendation, arguing that allowing phones in class ultimately violates teachers' right to teach and students' right to learn.

Although the Nhrck can recommend that parties correct their behavior, it cannot enforce its recommendations.

“The school’s management committee decided to reject the recommendation after collecting opinions from parents, students and teachers,” the vice principal said in a phone call with the JoongAng Ilbo. “It is difficult to follow the recommendation as requested since it could lead to many side effects like violating education and teaching rights.”

The vice principal added that teachers still allow students to use their phones if needed.

According to the Nhrck on Monday, 43 percent of the 56 schools the agency asked to amend their rules refused. This represents around four times the annual average refusal rate of the Nhrck’s recommendations. Thirty percent of the schools accepted the recommendation, while 27 percent agreed to amend their rules partially.

The Nhrck acknowledged that restricting phone use during class is justifiable but argued that banning students from using or possessing them outside of class violates students’ freedom. Therefore, it advised schools to ban phones or collect them before class to fix their rules, but many high schools argued that such a recommendation does not consider the actual reality of classes in schools.

Last month, a high school in Gwangju officially told the human rights commission that it would not implement the recommendation because the Ministry of Education allows schools to confiscate phones from students. The school also said there were problems like filming without permission and cyberbullying when phones were not collected, adding that the agreement was reached through a meeting with the parents.

However, the Nhrck said that the Education Ministry’s latest rule only means that teachers can advise students not to use phones during class, not that phones should be all collected upon arrival.

The ministry in September announced its new education rules regarding teachers’ guidance to students in classrooms, aiming to protect teachers’ classroom authority in the wake of teacher protests last year. According to the new rule, teachers can warn students about using phones in class and even confiscate them if needed.

The office building of National Human Rights Commission of Korea (Nhrck) in downtown Seoul [YONHAP]

Some schools partially accepted the Nhrck's recommendation.

Geumseong High School in North Gyeongsang used to ban phones at schools. However, following Nhrck’s recommendation, it relaxed the rule in May last year and now collects phones after students arrive.

“The Nhrck’s recommendation does not take reality into account,” the high school principal said. “Teachers cannot control every student hiding and using their phones during class unless they collect them before class.”

Another high school in Seoul that decided to partially reflect the recommendation in August last year stressed that most parents and even students themselves prefer schools to collect their phones for class. “The right to study is as important to many students as human rights,” the principal of a high school in Seoul said.

Some experts pointed out how confiscating phones helps students to focus more at school.

“A study shows that having your smartphone around reduces your concentration level and grades by 20 percent,” said Park Nam-gi, an education professor at Gwangju National University of Education.

“Many major countries collect phones from school students and allow them to use the devices for educational purposes only.”

However, others argue that students should decide whether or not to use phones at school.

According to a teacher at a high school in Daegu, the school began allowing students to use phones during recess only after amending their school rules.

“Allowing them to use phones during break time minimized conflicts with students related to phones as they could decide on the use themselves,” the teacher said.

Some teachers said confiscating phones at schools isn't worth trying.

“Students use tablet computers to watch YouTube and get on social media as those devices are allowed for taking online classes,” a 30-year-old high school teacher in Incheon said. Another high school senior told the JoongAng Ilbo that many students are submitting their second phones.

Some overseas jurisdictions restrict the use of phones in the classroom.

In Florida's Orange County, using phones, including during breaks and lunchtime, has been completely prohibited in public schools since September last year.

Christopher Luxon, the newly elected Prime Minister of New Zealand, announced last month that using mobile phones within school premises would be prohibited in his country.

Earlier, he pledged to address the crisis in the reading comprehension skills of New Zealand students, once considered among the world's best, by implementing a policy of collecting phones upon arrival at school and returning them at the end of the day.

France has also enforced a law since 2018 prohibiting the use of mobile phones in primary and middle schools.

The UN recommended in its 2023 Global Education Monitor report last year that “smartphone use should be prohibited to prevent classroom disruption, learning deficiencies and cyberbullying.”

BY LEE YOUNG-KEUN, OH SAM-GWON AND CHO JUNG-WOO [[email protected]]