In the not-too-distant past, having a long-distance conversation with a loved one involved searching for a public telephone booth, nicknamed tickey boxes, and feeding coins into the machine before it would allow the call to go through.
That is if there was no landline at home. Who remembers painstakingly rotating the dial clockwise to capture every digit of a number on an old rotary telephone? Today smartphones fit in a pocket and, in the world of Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, are "not just gadgets; they have become an extension of our being — a key to the world we live in".
Seemingly impossible to live without nowadays, the once-simple telephone now serves as a camera, banking app, connection to radio stations worldwide, music player, television, fitness tracker, newspaper, alarm clock, stopwatch, calendar, organiser, magazine, personal trainer, hiking guide, voice recorder and portal to 24/7 communication on social media.
The "revolutionary mobile phone" introduced to the world in 2007 by Steve Jobs changed everything, vastly improving our ability to communicate. But nearly 20 years later, having observed the effects of constant cellphone connectivity on adolescents, education authorities in parts of the world have already, or are, clamping down on the use of smartphones during class time.
St Mary's School in Waverley, Johannesburg, kicked off the new academic year by informing parents the campus would be cellphone and smartwatch-free during the school day from 7.15am to 2.15pm.
“Technology offers many benefits. However, research has shown that excessive screen time, particularly social media and messaging apps, contributes to heightened anxiety, disrupted attention spans and reduced face-to-face social skills,” the school, which achieved a 100% pass rate for its matric class of 2024, told parents.
The decision was taken after "careful consideration and in response to ongoing research around the impact of devices on adolescent development".
Several schools across the country have already implemented similar policies, citing research indicating that excessive use of smartphones disrupts sleep patterns at night, results in reduced productivity during lessons due to constant distractions, and causes anxiety, social disconnection and screen addiction.
Of course, cyberbullying or social media conflicts involving pupils. Some countries have implemented similar bans such as China, Finland, Italy and France. The parents of tens of thousands of pupils in the UK last year signed a pledge, backing the city of St Albans where many residents vowed not to allow their children the use of a smartphone before the age of 14.
However, a distinction was drawn in this campaign between smartphones connected to the internet and "brick phones" with only basic functionality. The key issue was parents needed to be able to contact their children in case of an emergency — or missing a bus, for example.
Parents should play a bigger role in helping their children understand the positive and negative consequences of too much screen time. Schools cannot carry that responsibility alone
On the other side of the coin, smartphones play an important part in the advancement of technological literacy, which makes learning and teaching easier, allows for the easy sharing of academic information and knowledge, can be used to take or record notes on subjects and offers instant communication in case of emergency.
Some experts suggest enforcing outright bans would see smartphones being smuggled into schools and being used on the sly, regardless.
Many schools in SA still allow pupils to have phones at school.
Where do we draw the line? TimesLIVE ran a snap poll on Tuesday asking the question: should all schools ban cellphones during school hours? About 90% of the first 400 respondents chose: "Yes, children should be focused on school work with no distractions." Just more than 8% selected the option, "I believe there are better alternatives to managing phone usage in schools". A little more than 1% disagreed and said parents should be able to contact their children in case of emergency.
A careful balance must be struck to allow children and teachers a distraction-free environment during lessons. Education is a cornerstone of the transition to adulthood, opening up opportunities for growth. We believe that parents should play a bigger role in helping their children understand the positive and negative consequences of too much screen time. Schools cannot carry that responsibility alone.
Equally, considering the scourge of crime and public transport disruptions in parts of the country, potentially vulnerable pupils need to have a dependable way of communicating with family when outside the classroom.
Will we see a return of the so-called dumb or brick phone to our schools as a potential compromise — or will schools in future resort to an outright ban and revert to calling parents listed on their database in times of emergency?
Either way, there is no going back to the old-school tickey box.
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