Congratulations to Education Minister Athena Michaelidou for pursuing her decision to ban mobile phones from all public secondary schools. She had banned phones from primary schools and has now tabled proposed amendments to the regulations governing the operation of secondary schools so that the total ban would also apply.

At present students can use their mobile phone during breaks.

Mobile phones are banned in private schools, but in the secondary public schools the decision was left to individual head teachers, some of whom exercised this authority. The minister has now opted for a blanket ban and appeared before the House education committee on Wednesday to inform deputies about the thinking behind the decision.

This was her second visit to the committee. When she first took the matter to the committee in June, deputies asked how the ban would be implemented, what punishments would be imposed and complained that there had been no prior consultations. On Wednesday Michaelidou had answers for these questions and said there would be compensatory measures for students such as creative games they could play at break time.

It is doubtful there is any need for these as they are very unlikely to stop the students, who are completely opposed to the ban, from complaining. Thankfully, the minister did not allow the teenagers a say in the matter but went with the proposal that was acceptable to parents. While teachers suggested that phones be completely banned from schools, parents wanted the children to take phones with them but not to use them during school-time. They will be allowed to have them in school as long as they remained in a student’s bag and in flight mode, said the minister. Another possibility was for special cases to be provided for the phones to go in, she said.

Ideally, the phones should have been banned from schools, as teachers wanted, but the minister’s proposal is the next best solution. Speaking a day earlier, Michaelidou said that the ban, “for us is not just a pedagogical issue but also one of mental and physical health,” explaining that excessive use of mobile phones caused dizziness, headaches and depression. Their use at break-times also prevented the socialisation of students, which was an essential part of their education.

The minister cannot be criticised for using arguments such as these to sell the idea of the ban. She could, however, have used just one argument – having mobile phones has no educational benefit whatsoever for a child at school. On the contrary, it is a constant distraction that, according to studies, leads to poor school results and a rise in anti-social, often violent, behaviour.

The ban is a no-brainer and the sooner the legislature approves the education ministry’s amendments, and it is implemented at schools, the better. We do not need any more discussions and consultations for what is a clear-cut matter.