Chile's Congress has approved a bill banning cell phones in classrooms to impose order. However, a digital education expert criticizes the measure for promoting poor tech literacy and widening inequalities. The author argues that the real solution is education, not confiscation.
Chile's Congress has recently approved a bill prohibiting cell phones in classrooms, aiming to restore order in educational settings. The measure has sparked discussion, particularly in a letter to the editor in La Tercera by Jaime Carvajal Medina, director of Virtual Learning Environments at UNIACC.
Carvajal Medina argues that while the law intends to impose discipline, it actually promotes 'poor digital education'. He contends that assuming a ban will eliminate screens from students' lives is misguided, akin to 'thinking that closing the kitchen eliminates sugar: the problem remains, just without teaching anyone how to handle it'.
The expert points out that for many students, the cell phone is 'their only means of communication and access to information'. Removing it without proper context, he says, 'widens inequality and leaves young people without tools for a world that doesn't shut down by decree'. Instead of confiscating devices, Carvajal Medina stresses that 'the challenge is not to confiscate, but to educate. Anything else is an illusion'.
This viewpoint underscores the conflict between disciplinary control and preparing for the digital age in Chile's education system, where equitable technology access remains a key challenge.