The unionist in the Social Affairs Committee of the Regional Council explained that “it is normal to see children from the first, second and third cycles of basic education, in the school corridors, sitting on the floor, with mobile phones in their hands.”
At a parliamentary hearing on the island of Terceira, Antonio Lucas added that students “spend too much time” on tablets and mobile phones, and “parents do not realise the lack of socialisation” this causes.
The SPRA president, who was consulted on a proposal by Bloco de Esquerda, which aims to reduce the use of screens in school playgrounds in the Azores, pointed out that the influence of mobile phone applications, which originated in Brazil, for example, are changing the way children speak.
“Today we have a large number of children in pre-school education who speak Brazilian, even though their parents are Portuguese,” which caused some laughter among the representatives of the Azorean parliament, who were in the committee.
He also explained that the excessive use of mobile phones or tablets in schools also causes students to become stagnant and even averse to some subjects, for example physical education, which has become a “problematic subject for students.”
“This illustrates the issue of student inactivity,” the union leader warned, lamenting that physical education, once a favourite subject for most students, had become “a bogeyman, like mathematics”.
For all this, Antonio Lucas said he agreed with the BE proposal to reduce the use of screens in school playgrounds, and even suggested that this measure should include students in the third cycle of basic education, in addition to students in the first and second cycles, which appear in the ban decision.
The Left Bloc also advocates restricting the use of digital booklets, following the example of the Nordic countries (the first to verify the harm of new technologies on children’s learning), but on this issue, the SPRA has a different understanding.
“A guide, whether paper or digital, is just a guide! Everything else, the teacher must enrich it to the best of his knowledge and ability,” explained Antonio Lucas, considering that the use of digital guides should depend on each teacher.
According to data collected by SPRA, the majority of reports made by teachers about student behavior relate to the misuse of cell phones in the classroom.
