Schools without mobile phones in Brazil
- The invasion of screens in our lives has accelerated in recent years. In the Basque Country, on the one hand, we want “screens in Basque” to increase the audiovisual offer, and on the other hand, we organize ourselves to reduce the areas that have gained the most diverse screens in schools and to alert children to the dangers that screens pose. But not only in us, it is a widespread concern and is spreading all over the world.
Studies are accumulated on the negative effects of mobile phones within the school, whether due to inattention, early dependence on social networks, or aggravated anxiety in students. First of all, educational communities are being mobilized in decision-making. One third of the world’s countries have already reduced the use of phones in schools. Among them, in Brazil, a significant step has just been taken.
On January 13, Congress passed a law that "prohibits students from using personal portable electronic devices at all stages of basic education, including on the playground or at intervals between classes." For this reason, it is the first country in Central and South America that has completely restricted the use of these devices.
Apart from the crudeness of the decision – a total ban – it is worth highlighting the consensus reached by the political forces that normally flirt with each other about the law. Only a few far-right MPs, members of the Liberal Party of former military and president Jair Bolsonaro, have voted against it.
Their refusal has been argued in this curious way: students must be able to have the telephone with them to record the "doctrinal practices" of the teachers and denounce "Marxist ideological activism that contaminates Brazilian education". In any case, some congressmen from Bolsonaro’s party have also passed the law.
The new rule comes into force next week in February, coinciding with the start of the new school year in Brazil. The main purpose of the Act No. 15,100 is to "protect the mental, physical and mental health of children and adolescents". The total ban on school phones has some exceptions, such as the use of pedagogical equipment, in certain cases where it is urgent because of health risks or problems.
Although some voices have indicated that the law is positive, mainly because it raises debate on the issue among the entire educational community, some have criticized the fact that Brazilian schools and teachers are not prepared to introduce new technologies in teaching and that there are no pedagogical projects to incorporate them.
For the All for Education movement for universal and quality public school, the teacher “is more important than the computer or mobile screen, technology does not replace it, but it is not the enemy. The tools must be combined. The paper book is a better tool to memorize, but the digital one is better suited to personalize teaching and respond to a variety of needs and interests."
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