RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 27 (IPS) – It was essential to repel the “invasion” of cellphones in Brazilian school rooms, even to spark a debate about the usage of know-how in training, in line with Silvana Veloso, an educator with in depth expertise on the topic.
On January 13, Brazil enacted a regulation that bans “the usage of private moveable digital gadgets by college students throughout lessons, recess, or breaks between lessons in any respect ranges of fundamental training,” 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 regulation to be handed by the Nationwide Congress in December 2024. Just a few far-right lawmakers, primarily from the Liberal Get together, voted towards it.
They needed college students to have entry to telephones to movie “indoctrinating practices” by lecturers and expose Marxist ideological activism, which they declare is contaminating Brazilian training. Nevertheless, even a few of their legislators supported the regulation.
Limiting cellphones in colleges goals to “safeguard the psychological, bodily, and psychological well being of youngsters and adolescents,” as said within the authorized Legislation 15.100. It contains exceptions for pedagogical use, emergencies involving dangers, or well being and incapacity points.
The brand new regulation took instant impact, with no transition interval, and will probably be enforced beginning in February, when the college yr begins on this nation of 212 million folks.
“This regulation is small and restricted, however optimistic as a result of it mobilizes the group, mother and father, lecturers, and even the college cafeteria workers, sparking debate,” Veloso stated. She doesn’t reject know-how in colleges however advocates for its applicable 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 places of work, cultural facilities, and NGOs, in addition to a cellular unit – a trailer outfitted to show pc lessons in neighborhoods.
With 40 of her 60 years devoted to training, Veloso additionally served as Secretary of Schooling for Rio Acima, a municipality of 10,000 residents, from 2022 to 2024. Throughout her tenure, she carried out a know-how program in native colleges, together with robotics labs. She continues to work as a instructor and advisor on the topic.
Rio Acima and lots of different municipalities obtained pc tools, comparable to desktops and tablets, however lacked the data to make use of them successfully.
Unprepared Faculties and Lecturers
Simply as with the overwhelming presence of cellphones, colleges and lecturers are usually unprepared to combine new applied sciences into instructing, Veloso lamented. They haven’t developed pedagogical initiatives 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 would possibly invade colleges and the preparation of Molotov cocktails have been a part of the group’s discussions, till a mom discovered by way of 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 turning into victims of, Veloso famous.
One other earlier case, from 2017, got here to mild when a scholar was discovered with cuts on her arm. It concerned ladies self-harming, inspired by a web site that promoted competitions amongst those that might minimize themselves essentially the most.
Coaching, notably for lecturers, to handle and leverage technological improvements is the central problem dealing with training, Veloso argued.
“Expertise doesn’t trigger regression; we’re those accountable. Humanity has at all times sought interactive communication. What we now have achieved is marvelous – telephones that permit us to speak whereas seeing the opposite individual’s picture are fascinating,” however they require debate and dialogue for correct use, she concluded.
The Hurt of Cellular Telephones
Quite a few research spotlight the destructive results of cellphones on studying, together with consideration deficits, social media dependancy, and elevated anxiousness amongst college students.
Brazil has develop into the primary Latin American nation to cross a regulation limiting cellphones in colleges, following a world 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 regulation takes impact in February, its full implementation requires rules and protocols for colleges managed by states (secondary colleges) and municipalities (main colleges).
After political consensus, pushed by the confirmed distraction brought on by cellphones in each colleges and workplaces, the brand new regulation now prompts reflection on pedagogical initiatives in colleges.
“Expertise should be launched into every college in an organized method, avoiding the present chaos,” stated Bernardo Baião, coordinator of Instructional Insurance policies at Todos pela Educação, a nonprofit civil society group advocating for high quality fundamental training 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 embrace the emotional impression on those that “can not reside with out social media” and the social interplay facet of “residing and enjoying at college, 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 is just not the enemy. We should mix completely different instruments. Printed books are higher for memorization, however digital ones are extra appropriate for personalised instructing, addressing completely different wants and pursuits,” he added.
“The instructor is extra essential than the pc or cellphone display; know-how can not substitute them,” he harassed.
The ban on cellphones in colleges had already been carried out in lots of personal colleges, and 4 of Brazil’s 26 states had handed their very own laws. In reality, 28% of faculties had already adopted a complete ban, with few exceptions, by 2023, in line with the Web Steering Committee.
This committee contains authorities and civil society contributors, together with lecturers and business representatives. It assists in web governance, sustaining neutrality towards political and personal pursuits, and established the core ideas of Brazil’s web regulation, the Civil Rights Framework for the Web.
The swift passage of the nationwide regulation was attributable to near-consensus in public opinion. A survey carried out by the non-governmental Locomotiva Institute in October 2024 confirmed that 82% of respondents supported banning cellphones in colleges.
© Inter Press Service (2025) — All Rights ReservedUnique supply: Inter Press Service
