Experts have welcomed St Mary’s School Waverley’s decision to ban of cellphones during school hours.
Learners at the school will only be allowed to use their devices after school, in a bid to address growing concerns about the impact of technology on adolescent development.
Teddy Bear Foundation’s Director, Dr Shaheda Omar, believes this is a step in the right direction as excessive use and exposure to technological devices can cause much harm to young people.
Speaking to YNews, Dr Omar said the decision will bolster the school’s efforts to ensure discipline and create a better learning environment.
According to the veteran clinical director, it is estimated that 23% of children and teenagers feel that they are addicted to video games.
She says young people who spend a lot of time on devices, usually score lower in language and cognitive tests, which includes memory recall.
“In an American study, it is reported that children who spend more than seven hours on devices, experienced thinning of the brains cortex, which is the area of the brain related to critical thinking and reasoning.”
Dr Omar says parents need to play a huge role in ensuring that their children are using their devices in the right way.
She says parents or guardians must never use devices as nannies, which can influence the young mind and can cause harm in the future.
Neuroscientist, Mark Williams, agrees with Dr Omar.
He says more countries and schools should consider banning social media for children under 16 like Australia.
According to the Australian new legislation, which will come into effect this year, social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and X will won’t allow minors to log into the apps, They will face fines of up to R582 million should they fail to comply.
St Mary’s senior headmistress, Seipati Shiakallis, says they want to create an environment where the learners can communicate with each other without any technological distraction.
Learners have a choice to either leave their phones and smart watches at home or lock them away on arrival at school.
The school has apparently invested in cellphone-specific lockers for the safekeeping of the learners’ devices until the end of the school day.
Woodlands International College in Boksburg and St Albans College in Pretoria are some other schools in the country with ano-cellphone policy during school hours.
St Mary’s DSG Kloof trialled this in high school for the last two years. The feedback from the students themselves, was that they want a cell phone ban to continue during school hours.
Interesting.
— EcommerceLeaks (@EcommerceLeaks) January 20, 2025
Well done St Mary’s. I wish they could ban the laptops too because they move from cellphone to chat on Teams or other Apps 😢😢😢.
— Thee doctors doctor😉 (@dr_dotz) January 20, 2025
This is a great move by St Mary’s. All schools should do this
— Khozality🇿🇦 (@khozalities) January 20, 2025
This shouldn’t be surprising. We grew up the same way. Cell phones could only be used afterschool. If you were caught with it even at break, it would be confiscated.
— Royal Diadem 👑👑👑 (@mathapelo_mtee) January 20, 2025
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