RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 27 (IPS) – It was essential to repel the “invasion” of cellphones in Brazilian lecture rooms, even to spark a debate about using expertise in schooling, in accordance with Silvana Veloso, an educator with in depth expertise on the topic.
On January 13, Brazil enacted a legislation that bans “using private moveable digital gadgets by college students throughout courses, recess, or breaks between courses in any respect ranges of fundamental schooling,” making it the primary Latin American nation to impose such a nationwide restriction.
An uncommon settlement amongst numerous opposing political factions allowed the brand new legislation to be handed by the Nationwide Congress in December 2024. Only some far-right lawmakers, primarily from the Liberal Social gathering, voted in opposition to it.
They wished college students to have entry to telephones to movie “indoctrinating practices” by lecturers and expose Marxist ideological activism, which they declare is contaminating Brazilian schooling. Nevertheless, even a few of their legislators supported the legislation.
Limiting cellphones in faculties goals to “safeguard the psychological, bodily, and psychological well being of kids and adolescents,” as said within the permitted Regulation 15.100. It consists of exceptions for pedagogical use, emergencies involving dangers, or well being and incapacity points.
The brand new legislation took rapid impact, with no transition interval, and shall be enforced beginning in February, when the varsity 12 months begins on this nation of 212 million folks.
“This legislation is small and restricted, however optimistic as a result of it mobilizes the group, dad and mom, lecturers, and even the varsity cafeteria employees, sparking debate,” Veloso mentioned. She doesn’t reject expertise in faculties however advocates for its acceptable use.
As an educator, Veloso led the BH Digital program, a digital inclusion initiative in Belo Horizonte – the capital of the southern state of Minas Gerais, with 2.3 million inhabitants -, from its inception in 2004 till 2012.
This system established telecenters with 10 to twenty internet-connected computer systems in public establishments like libraries, help workplaces, cultural facilities, and NGOs, in addition to a cellular unit – a trailer geared up to show pc courses in neighborhoods.
With 40 of her 60 years devoted to schooling, Veloso additionally served as Secretary of Training for Rio Acima, a municipality of 10,000 residents, from 2022 to 2024. Throughout her tenure, she applied a expertise program in native faculties, together with robotics labs. She continues to work as a trainer and advisor on the topic.
Rio Acima and lots of different municipalities obtained pc tools, reminiscent of desktops and tablets, however lacked the data to make use of them successfully.
Unprepared Faculties and Academics
Simply as with the overwhelming presence of cellphones, faculties and lecturers are typically unprepared to combine new applied sciences into instructing, Veloso lamented. They haven’t developed pedagogical tasks to include these instruments.
Concerning cellphones, that are owned by a overwhelming majority of scholars, Veloso has witnessed troubling circumstances. In response to highschool violence, which surged in late 2022 and early 2023 – with 5 assaults and 11 deaths in 5 Brazilian states – college students aged 9 and ten in Rio Acima organized self-defense networks through WhatsApp.
Directions on utilizing kitchen knives to “bleed the bandits” who may invade faculties and the preparation of Molotov cocktails have been a part of the group’s discussions, till a mom came upon via the scholars themselves, Veloso advised IPS over the cellphone from Rio Acima, the place she lives.
The chief of the motion was simply 10 years outdated and headed a number of WhatsApp teams. “They have been reproducing the violence” they feared changing into victims of, Veloso famous.
One other earlier case, from 2017, got here to mild when a pupil was discovered with cuts on her arm. It concerned women self-harming, inspired by a web site that promoted competitions amongst those that may minimize themselves essentially the most.
Coaching, notably for lecturers, to handle and leverage technological improvements is the central problem dealing with schooling, Veloso argued.
“Expertise doesn’t trigger regression; we’re those accountable. Humanity has all the time sought interactive communication. What we now have achieved is marvelous – telephones that permit us to speak whereas seeing the opposite particular person’s picture are fascinating,” however they require debate and dialogue for correct use, she concluded.
The Hurt of Cell Telephones
Quite a few research spotlight the unfavorable results of cellphones on studying, together with consideration deficits, social media habit, and elevated anxiousness amongst college students.
Brazil has develop into the primary Latin American nation to cross a legislation limiting cellphones in faculties, following a worldwide development. 1 / 4 of the 194 member states of the United Nations Instructional, Scientific and Cultural Group (UNESCO) have already adopted restrictive measures, notably in Europe and Asia.
Though the legislation takes impact in February, its full implementation requires rules and protocols for faculties managed by states (secondary faculties) and municipalities (major faculties).
After political consensus, pushed by the confirmed distraction attributable to cellphones in each faculties and workplaces, the brand new legislation now prompts reflection on pedagogical tasks in faculties.
“Expertise should be launched into every faculty in an organized method, avoiding the present chaos,” mentioned Bernardo Baião, coordinator of Instructional Insurance policies at Todos pela Educação, a nonprofit civil society group advocating for high quality fundamental schooling in Brazil.
The proliferation of cellphones, mixed with social media, has a cognitive dimension, affecting studying. College students themselves admit that it distracts them from their research.
“Extra display time, much less studying,” emphasised Baião, a historical past graduate turned educator, who has labored full-time for the Todos pela Educação motion in Rio de Janeiro for the previous three years.
Different elements of the technological problem embody the emotional influence on those that “can’t stay with out social media” and the social interplay side of “residing and taking part in in school, making it naturally noisy, with out the silence of cellphones, which convey distant folks nearer whereas pushing away these close by,” he advised IPS.
“Expertise isn’t the enemy. We should mix completely different instruments. Printed books are higher for memorization, however digital ones are extra appropriate for customized instructing, addressing completely different wants and pursuits,” he added.
“The trainer is extra essential than the pc or cellphone display; expertise can’t substitute them,” he confused.
The ban on cellphones in faculties had already been applied in lots of non-public faculties, and 4 of Brazil’s 26 states had handed their very own laws. In truth, 28% of colleges had already adopted a complete ban, with few exceptions, by 2023, in accordance with the Web Steering Committee.
This committee consists of authorities and civil society individuals, together with teachers and business representatives. It assists in web governance, sustaining neutrality in opposition to political and personal pursuits, and established the core rules of Brazil’s web legislation, the Civil Rights Framework for the Web.
The swift passage of the nationwide legislation was on account of near-consensus in public opinion. A survey performed by the non-governmental Locomotiva Institute in October 2024 confirmed that 82% of respondents supported banning cellphones in faculties.
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