Due to the excessive use of WhatsApp, Italy tries to take an extreme measure in the classroom

Italy’s new right-wing government will forbid telephone in class during lessons to prevent students from being distracted, Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told state broadcaster RAI on Thursday.

Valditara told Corriere della Sera on Wednesday: “I say you shouldn’t enter class with your cell phone. You can leave it at the entrance or in any case outside the classroom: you go to school to study, not to chat».

The extreme measure presents a lot of resistance even among those who support the right-wing government, because it is still an invasion of private property.

However, various studies indicate that phones are a serious problem for students’ attention span: because of the notification system that break in at any time, the return to educational tasks takes longer and It affects the ability to learn.

​Various educators around the world, along with traditional and alternative education experts, advise on how to use these devices in the educational process.

In Italy, Whatsapp It is the most used chat application in the country, followed by Telegram.

History in Argentina

In November last year, the government of Catamarca took a similar step: it banned the use of mobile phones and other similar technological devices in all schools and educational establishments at all levels of compulsory education, the ministry said. provincial education.

The provision was made official with resolution no. 621/22 of the MIUR and reaches the students of Primary, Primary and Secondary Education of the province, both state and private, cooperative and social management.

Catamarca’s education minister, Andrea Centurión, said the measure, initially implemented in a secondary school, is being extended to the rest of the province’s educational establishments.

“The presence and use of these devices has completely changed the face-to-face classroom environment, and students’ relationship with their teachers and even with their classmates; before that, discipline weakens and conflicts increase,” he assured according to an official statement from the education portfolio.

The regulation indicates that “exceptionally only the use of mobile phones and other similar technological devices will be allowed, with educational purposes and didactics that are specifically included in the Institutional Educational Project as in its Annual Programming”.

Cell phones distract and take our attention away from our current tasks and activities. New research reveals that the mere presence of phones, even when they’re turned off and we’re consciously focusing our attention on another task, is enough to reduce our ability to think.

This has a serious impact on the pedagogical process, especially in the early stages. For this reason, various authorities are taking these drastic measures.