South Australian taxpayers will splurge nearly $1 million on a new advertising campaign to remind parents about the government’s mobile phone ban in schools.
Education Minister Blair Boyer denies the policy is a flop despite schoolyard fights being filmed and storage pouches for the phones being broken.
The government’s new $900,000 “awareness” campaign aims to help enforce the public high school ban, which all schools need to enforce by term three.
State leaders say it will ”improve the educational performance and wellbeing of our next generation”.
Advertisements will rolling out across various media until the end of August.
Boyer said help was needed to get the message out.
“Why are we doing that campaign, we need to have the support of parents, grandparents and family members as allies,” he said.
Shadow education minister John Gardener said the money wouldn’t have been needed to be spent it the government had done a better job initially.
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“The fact is, would this money have been necessary if the government had communicated more effectively and clearly to parents and students?” Gardener, said.
The rollout of the ban is already proving problematic.
A total of 18 students were suspended over a fight filmed at Underdale High in Adelaide’s west.
A trend is also taking off online showing students how to break pouches that lock away phones.
At Salisbury East High School in the city’s north, phones must be kept in bags or lockers. But some students still flout the rules, with about 17 phones confiscated each day.
The education minister has said more money may be needed in June’s budget to buy more storage pouches for students’ phones.
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“I completely reject any suggestion the ban is not working,” Boyer said.
