Niue high school bans mobile phones as school resumes for the new term

Students and teachers have returned back to school today for Term 2 after their two week holiday. 

One thing is new is the mobile phone ban policy which has taken effect today.

It was confirmed on the Niue High School Facebook Page post yesterday.

BCN News reached out to Principal Charles Ioane and he said that the ban is strategic as it is the start of the new school term. 

“We do not want to introduce something new and important halfway through the term.”

“The directive was to ban phones at the start of the 2024 academic year but we wanted time to research the pros and cons of the ban, and to set a simple but effective policy in place to support the proposed ban.”

BCN News is aware that this phone ban also comes at the same time with New Zealand’s phone ban policy in schools that recently just came into effect. 

Principal Ioane says the timing was uncannily with their policy taking effect too. 

“Our phone ban was our own decision and not related to the New Zealand ban. It was something that the school had been exploring for a while, and our new government has pushed it along.”

Principal Ioane says that the school has adopted a total ban which means students are asked to keep their phones at home and not bring them to school. 

“If a student uses a phone at school, or is caught with a phone at school, during class or outside the classroom, the phone will be confiscated, brought to the office, and parents contacted to pick it up.”

“Repeated occurrences (defiance) will warrant the school to keep the phone until the end of the academic year.”

The aim of the mobile phone ban policy is to enhance the learning environment, minimise distractions, and promote student focus by restricting mobile phone usage during school hours. 

The school also aims to improve academic performance, foster meaningful and positive interactions among students and teachers, create a focused and respectful learning environment for students and reduce incidences of bullying, in particular cyber-bullying at school. 

A meeting was held last week to discuss the phone ban policy. Parents who attended showed unanimous support for the ban. 

Principal Ioane says that this can only work if everyone including students, teachers and parents work together and support it. 

“Teething problems are expected and the school is ready to respond to these.”

Principal Ioane says that the policy will be reviewed going forward for effectiveness.