The NSW opposition wants a total ban on students having phones at school while experts say the proposal is a good start but not a catch-all solution.
Labor says mobile phones are a distraction for pupils and that’s being reflected in academic outcomes.
NSW has slumped to 23rd in reading, 31st in maths and 23rd in science compared to other countries in the Program for International Student Assessment rankings.
With less than two months until the NSW election, the phone ban is part of Labor’s education policy.
It is also calling for the recruitment of 10,000 full-time teachers, cuts to their administrative workloads and the construction of more schools.
The renewed call for the ban comes as a parliamentary inquiry into teacher shortages and educational outcomes continues.
Psychologist Jocelyn Brewer told MPs a blanket ban needs to take into account social factors, including parents checking on their children.
Under a barrage of questions from Nationals MP Wes Fang and Greens MP Abigail Boyd, Ms Brewer was careful not to be dragged into an outright support of Labor’s policy, since she had been called on as an expert by the opposition.
“It’s a dance between taking some control and putting some … limitations around that, aligned with other things that keep us human in a tech-saturated world,” she said on Thursday.
She called for more research into screen addiction and its impact on children’s developing minds, with Labor promising to fund it with $2.5 million if elected.
“Some people call it infobesity, that it’s just from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, we are consuming data,” Ms Brewer said.
“Whether it’s quality data or not, it’s a huge volume compared to previous generations. That has potential links to a range of things such as mental fog (and) anxiety.”
Investment in supporting responsible use of mobile phones while teaching digital literacy “go hand in hand like pool fences and swimming lessons”, she said.
Labor Leader Chris Minns said the ban on phones in schools was “a common sense” solution that Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia had already implemented.
“This is a reform that is needed … children are more and more distracted during school hours,” he told reporters.
“We’re asking a 13-year-old kid to battle big technology – Facbeook, Tiktok and Instagram – and come out ahead.
“These devices are addictive and almost impossible to put down”.