Abstract:

Today's generation of school children is heavily influenced by modern technology and communicates extensively with their friends online. Compared to older generations, the quality and observation of direct interpersonal communication have changed noticeably, and children are less naturally developing their communication skills. Because of the fact that children communicate less with each other, social skills such as empathy, assertiveness, the ability to communicate, the ability to talk, to establish healthy relationships, to be able to control themselves, and manage conflicts are not sufficiently developed.

The aim of the presented research was to find out how the prohibition on the use of mobile phones in the school building has an impact on the classroom climate from the perspective of primary school pupils. A total of 56 classes of different schools took part in the research, of which 31 phones have banned from the use in school and 25 have phones allowed. The research sample consisted of 832 pupils aged 8-12 (3rd - 5th grade of elementary school). The MCI (My class inventory) questionnaire by Australians B. J. Fraser and D. L. Fisher was used for data collecting.

The results of the research have shown that in primary school classes where pupils can use mobile phones, there is a higher degree of conflict between pupils, lower pupil satisfaction in the classroom and higher competition compared to primary school classes where pupils are not allowed to use their phones. On the other hand, pupils of elementary schools in which there is a ban on mobile phones use compared to those where the use of the mobile phones is allowed, have a greater ability to better resolve conflicts between themselves, are less compared to each other and competition does not significantly impede into the class cohesion. In other words, the ban on the use of mobile phones in school buildings by pupils of younger school-age has a proven positive effect on the class climate.

Keywords:

Class climate, mobile phone, primary school pupil.