Banning the smartphone in public spaces?

I’m writing this article from my accommodation in South Africa, where I’m residing during my year abroad. Here, it is actively encouraged not to use your phone in public places due to a high prevalence of phone thefts, and generally, when I’m out, I get the feeling that people carry a strong sense of social awareness. It is something we lack more of in the UK, and is possibly the result of a soft “smartphone ban.” 

Most importantly, people look up, not down at their phones

For instance, over here, people on the street will greet you, university students who are complete strangers will engage in conversation with you, and most importantly, people look up, not down at their phones. There are also phone-free restaurants, where you’re technically not supposed to use your phone while sitting at the table. I went to one in Kirstenbosch Gardens, and I can honestly say it made me talk to my brother and father a lot more, compared to when we went to a steakhouse the night after, and we were all impatiently checking our phones as we waited for food.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, my secondary school was actually a phone-free school. We were not allowed smartphones, and if they suspected you had one, they could bag search you. Moreover, if a phone went off in class and nobody owned up to it, all bags were searched, and any phones found were confiscated. Worst of all, the phones that had been taken would only be given back the following school day, making weekends extra painful if you had your phone taken on Friday and were then unable to get it back until Monday.

The official school rhetoric on smartphones, which they told local news, was that smartphones “cause conflict among students” and disrupt classes, and a ban would improve behaviour and encourage students to speak to each other face to face. Did this actually improve student productivity and ward off phone use? In short, no.

Students still brought their phones to school but just switched on silent mode, and some students even used them in class when the teacher wasn’t looking; they just had to get good at hiding. So, in places like the toilet or changing rooms where teachers couldn’t enter, phones came out.

For people to actually see the benefits of a smartphone ban, the ban has to work

However, speaking from my experience, I’d say it did encourage students to speak more with each other during lunch and break time. I remember in my pre-phone ban Year 7 classes, students would use break time to sit around and doomscroll on their phones. Still, I think it is foolish to say a smartphone ban would stop class disruption, because there are many other reasons disruption occurs in public schools. For people to actually see the benefits of a smartphone ban, the ban has to work. There is no point introducing a ban like the one at my old school without enforcing it properly. Easier said than done.

Now, moving on to the University of Warwick, I have found smartphone use to be widespread. I will be the first to admit that sometimes I invite my friends over to my house and we all just sit on our phones, watching and sending reels to each other. But I think these types of pseudo-social interactions really ruin one’s social skills and make it a lot harder to make friends and hold conversations. My friends and I found that doing social events where phones are not allowed or are inconvenient, such as pub quizzes or mini-golf, really improved the quality of the conversations we had.

I have begun using an app called “Opal” which literally blocks you from using certain apps for a set period of time

However, with no phone ban coming, the impetus is on us to take charge, stop using our phones so much, and let genuine conversations happen. I have begun using an app called “Opal” which literally blocks you from using certain apps for a set period of time, and it’s a very valuable tool. I have found that the small intervention really helps me improve my concentration span and lock in more. It has also helped ensure that when I am hanging out with friends and I get the urge to scroll, the urge diminishes as I am blocked.

Maybe, if we all limited our smartphone use, we would live in a better world. We could hold better conversations with our friends, improve our attention span, and ensure we are educated in a conducive school environment.