Guest post from student Ifan Bambury, Oakwood Park Grammar School
In October 2024, Debating Matters was invited to host a showcase debate at the Battle of Ideas Festival.
Teams from The Burgate School and Oakwood Park Grammar School debated the motion:
Smartphones should be banned in the classroom.
Here, OPGS student, Ifan Bambury, reflects on the debate and how being assigned a position he didn’t initially agree with made him think more widely about the issue.
Banning Smartphones in the classroom? Is this one step towards an authoritarian government? Obviously, this question is divisive. However, to me, it seems to reflect a widening generational gap that stems from counter reactionism to modern society and there is evidence to suggest this. Most notably, a recent YouGov poll, which showed that 65% of those aged 65 or above believe that mobile devices should be definitively banned from educational environments, while only 13% of 18–24-year-olds feel this way. As it happens, I found myself in this slim 13% category when I was invited to debate in favour of these smart devices at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2024. But now, I find myself in quite the different position.
As I was originally posed with opposing the motion, that smartphones should be banned in the classroom, I immediately considered the diversionary nature of online activity. This surely could not fuse effectively with learning. But the more my teammate (Arthur Pavey) and I researched, the more that we began to construct our argument, the more we considered how phones could be effectively implemented to enhance learning. I began to be swayed. Isn’t it true that we can’t hide from technology, that we should learn to embrace it, and that this can first come from schools?
Categorically, a total and outright removal of phones from classrooms would not be beneficial for teachers or students alike. There should be a right to use these devices at the request of the educator. This does not mean they can be used liberally in the classroom or during break times – the punishment would be confiscation – but should a task be more effectively completed digitally, why couldn’t this be capitalised on?
I am settled on my newfound position, a stance and policy that I took when running for the Kent Youth County Council. Now, as a member, I will push forward my perspective: phones should not be absolutely banned. To quote the final line of my debate speech: “We have to use [technology’s] potential, not run away from it”.
Ifan Bambury, Oakwood Park Grammar School, 2024
Ifan and Arthur faced tough opposition from Lizzie Camfield and Mollie Gennard from The Burgate School but the judges ultimately awarded Oakwood Park Grammar School winners of the debate. Thank to teachers Mr Evan Bailey and Ms Abbie Hern and judges Professor Ellie Lee, Murray Hancock and Stan Swim. Thank you to the Battle of Ideas festival for inviting Debating Matters.