Cell phones at school: teachers report student aggression – 10/02/2024 – Education

During a Portuguese class for the 1st year of high school, the teacher noticed that one of the students was using his cell phone. She asked him to keep the device, but was not answered. The third time she was ignored, she told the student to leave the room.

Exalted, the 15-year-old got up, started cursing the teacher and threatened her, saying he would “finish her”. Before leaving the room, he hit the cell phone hard on the teacher’s arm.

Instead of going to the coordination or management, the student jumped over the school wall and returned minutes later accompanied by his older brother, who was shouting and threatening the teacher for trying to restrict the use of his cell phone.

The case happened in June at a state school in Paranavaí, in the interior of Paraná. But similar situations of teachers being disrespected, threatened and even attacked for asking students not to use their cell phones during classes have been recorded in other public and private schools in the country.

Educators report that clashes related to cell phone use have always occurred, but they believe that students are more resistant and have had more aggressive reactions when they have to put the device aside.

For psychiatrist Rodrigo Bressan, the teachers’ perception is a strong indication that the use has become vicious for the student.

“When an individual has an addictive relationship with something, be it cigarettes, alcohol or a cell phone, they become irritated and aggressive when confronted or asked to stop using it. It is a relationship that is dangerous and harmful for both the student and the teacher “, says Bressan, who is also a neuroscientist and president of the Ame Sua Mente Institute.

Because this relationship of dependence is involved, Bressan argues that the decision to prohibit the use of cell phones cannot fall to the teacher, but must be a policy of the school or education networks.

“The teacher cannot enter into this fight alone. Most schools have rules that prohibit the use of cell phones during class, but they have not been sufficient. A more assertive stance is needed, the teacher cannot be the only one responsible for controlling this use.”

The expert defends the measure studied by the Lula (PT) government to ban the use of cell phones by students throughout the school environment. For him, the ban can bring benefits to performance, but above all to the mental health of students and teachers.

The case in Paranavaí, for example, had serious consequences for those involved. On the day of the episode, the police were called by the school management and everyone was taken to the police station.

The teacher carried out a criminal examination. The teenager was charged with the infractions of aggression and threat. At the beginning of September, a judge at the Children and Youth Court ordered him to serve a sentence of community service for three months.

The teacher, who out of fear did not want her name identified, asked to be removed from the school. She said she had bouts of anxiety and insomnia, as well as fear of teaching the boy again.

Paraná is one of the Brazilian states that has a rule that limits cell phone use only for educational activities. Teachers, however, say that the restriction is almost impossible to comply with, as it is difficult to monitor what students do.

It was during an online activity with the 8th grade class that a mathematics teacher was attacked by a 13-year-old student.

The teacher had asked students to do exercises on a platform, which was acquired by the management of the private school in Limeira, in the interior of São Paulo. She, however, realized that the girl had used the device to photograph a colleague with a disability and send the image to a group.

Upon seeing the student laughing with other classmates, the teacher asked her to show what she was doing with her cell phone. She refused to show it and continued to take photos.

The teacher then told the student to leave the room and go to the coordination. The girl got up, but on the way she started cursing the teacher and pushed her against the blackboard.

For the teacher, controlling what students do with their cell phones in their hands is practically impossible. Therefore, she says she is against activities that involve the device within the classroom. With more than 20 years of teaching, she says students learn more from face-to-face interaction than from technology.

In a statement, the Paraná Department of Education said that it is not considering changing the rule for the use of cell phones in schools. According to the ministry, there is no punishment for students who fail to comply with the rule and the guidance is for teachers to talk to the student or parents if necessary.

Regarding the case of aggression, the Ratinho Junior (PSD) administration said that the teacher “lost her calm”.

Confrontations involving cell phones in the classroom led the governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes (União Brasil), to present a bill last week that completely bans the use of the devices.

On September 18, a teacher at a state school was attacked by a student’s uncle after taking the cell phone from the boy’s hand.

The teacher took off the device when he realized he was being filmed. At the end of the day, the family member went to the school to talk to the teacher and hit him on the head with a thermos. A police report was registered.

“Several research has already shown that cell phones harm students’ concentration and, consequently, teachers’ working conditions. We can’t continue allowing something so harmful in classrooms,” says Bressan.