Pictures of life from the school in Göd, where the students have not taken mobile phones for six years.
The most important change affecting students in the new academic year is the restriction of the use of mobile phones at school. However, this is nothing new at Búzaszem School, because six years ago they made an "alliance" with the parents that not only are there no smartphones at school, but also at home. hirado.hu asked a staff member of the school and the parents about the impact of this decision on the children. There was a father who felt that he got his little girl back as a result of the decision.
"Six years ago, we made an alliance with the parents that not only in the school, there are no smartphones, tablets, personal screens, digital games, social media sites in the children's lives until the end of the first semester of the eighth grade, but also at home. Now the children whose parents we made the agreement with for the first time come to the seventh grade"
- recently wrote the Búzaszem Catholic Primary School and Art Education School on its social media page.
At the Göd school, the teachers see that personal freedom from screens is an important condition for intellectual and emotional intelligence, the development of a network of relationships, and the upbringing of a mentally healthy generation. They stated that the child does not need the screen, and that the child whose traditional skills are developed in a traditional way will be better even in the digital world than those who were allowed to use personal screens too soon.
"Today, the Danube can be cordoned off with studies on the disadvantages of personal screens. In other words, being a Maradi in this case means that we do not listen to the words of 21st century science and put personal screens in the hands of our children"
they added.
A study gave me the idea
We learned from a staff member of the Büzaszem School that the introduction of telephone exemption was not a sudden idea, but part of a process. The restriction has already been introduced in the school since 2011-2012, although not so strictly yet. At that time, you could only make phone calls from the secretary's room with the permission of the secretariat.
Finally, a study gave the idea to introduce phone-free service. In 2017, the University of Toronto and the Toronto General Hospital presented their results in a joint study in which children around the age of two were examined. The children were given a smartphone in their hands for half an hour a day and suffered a noticeable disadvantage in their speech development compared to children who did not use the phone.
In addition, the institution also encountered personal experience.
"We noticed that the first-year children who came to us were moving more and more awkwardly, and many of them could not run on one leg, let alone two. After a lot of thinking, we came to the conclusion that this could be because children live their lives in front of screens instead of moving. But it wasn't just about that, we have seen before that the mental state of children started to deteriorate radically from 2010. Because social media sites are holding the mirror for them, not their families"
- said the school employee, who says that although we often hear that today's children are digital natives, since they were born into it, this is not the case.
"None of them are born with a machine in their hands, we put it in their hands, so there is no such thing as a digital native. However, it is very important to say that it is not an enemy of the digital world. Of course we also use it, but there is a right place and time for it"
he said firmly.
"We got our little girl back"
According to the Büzaszem School employee, parents can experience quite touching moments when a child falls into the phone-free community.
"A little girl came to us in the sixth grade. She used to have a phone, although her parents didn't support it, but they still let her, because otherwise she would have been ostracized by her classmates. After a month and a half spent with us, I asked the girl's father how the integration went. To this he said the following, which I will never forget:
»We got our little girl back. Today he is curious about us, talking to us. Ask and answer. He doesn't slam the door on us, he doesn't go into his room, he doesn't embarrass his brothers. We can accompany him to school without having to say goodbye two corners away, in fact, when we come to him at school, he runs to us and hugs us."
What happens if there is no phone or tablet?
The employee of Búzaszem School emphasized that the children can encounter countless other activities at school. There are folk dances, chamber music, sports, a school garden, saber fencing and countless professional circles, in which the students are happy to participate one by one. The students are scouts and go on regular trips, even sleeping over the weekend, to get to know nature.
The school management tries to replace screen time with programs with which the children can build their community.
An introduction to the basics of the online world
As we wrote about, children do not develop a relationship with different devices until the first semester of the eighth grade. But what about the second semester?
Children can hear lessons about data protection and addiction. They learn how to resist various Internet manipulations and learn to use programs creatively and even to program.
"They graduate from us in such a way that they learn the necessary things. They have a digital culture class. So it's not that we don't put them in front of a machine at all. We just don't put an entertainment center in their pocket. We will wait until they are mature enough for it"
- said the school's employee, who advised parents who are faced with restrictions on the use of mobile phones at school in the new school year to talk to their child as much as possible.
"You have to work on this in the family as well. Otherwise, it will only be a half-solution and as soon as they have switched to a screen-free life, they should just enjoy its endless joy," he added.
What do parents think?
The employee of the Búzaszem School emphasized that the ban was introduced together with the parents, in consensus. Prior to that, the parents listened to psychologists, educational researchers and mental health specialists as guest lecturers on the topic organized by the school. In the end, they all decided not to allow their children screen time, even at home.
We also contacted a parent whose child is a proud student of the Wheat Eye School. András Virág said that the school's initiative was positively received.
"I have also seen on many occasions the havoc the phone can cause in other children. I am also a scout leader, and it is forbidden to use or take them at our events. We are fans of the offline world"
- said András Virág, who is the father of five children and has experienced that a screen-free upbringing does not lead to a disadvantage, but to an advantage for the young generation. Without a phone, they learn to be grounded and responsible, since there are always situations in life when they have to make certain decisions alone.
The leader of Star Trek Scout Troop 801 also said that he sees spectacular differences between the children who are allowed to use the phone and those who are not.
"Those who are not on the phone are much more direct and more developed in their social relationships. Overall, it can be said that they are present and have a need for quality time spent together"
said the father.
As for academic results, András Virág also said that children perform better in a world without gadgets. They get praise and recognition for good results, so they get real likes in life, which the virtual world will never be able to give them.
Featured image: Büzaszem School / Facebook
