![A mobile phone ban wouldn't have stopped an Illawarra mother's son from being attacked in the schoolyard. File picture A mobile phone ban wouldn't have stopped an Illawarra mother's son from being attacked in the schoolyard. File picture](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/yqbYpxNMru7TBX8VR5QF63/bbbe54e0-18d6-4ee1-b46a-cb4d822e98be.png/r0_0_1600_900_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A ban on mobile phones won't stop kids being beat up at government high schools, but it may stop some bullying, an Illawarra mother says.
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From term 4, mobile phones will be banned at all NSW government high schools. It brings them into line with public primary schools and schools in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
The ban applies during class, recess and lunch times, NSW Premier Chris Minns said on Tuesday in the delivery on his election promise.
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During term one in the Illawarra, a public high school student was left battered and bruised after he was beaten up by other students. His parents are considering pulling him out of the school.
As he was assaulted on school grounds in broad daylight, other other students watched and took videos of the fight, which they shared between classmates within minutes.
"Kids are getting off on the fact they've videoed the fights. They've making a name for themselves by taking videos of it," the boy's mother said.
She would only speak on the assurance of anonymity, as she is worried about possible revenge attacks on her son.
Kids are getting off on the fact they've videoed the fights.
- An Illawarra mother
"They don't realise the consequences if they hit someone the wrong way," she said.
"It doesn't take much to hit a kid the wrong way and they fall down and hit their head.
"Does it get to the point where I lose a child?"
It's the latest incident in a spate of violence across Illawarra schools, with police being called out and security hired at one school, but the NSW Education says "schools are overwhelmingly safe places for children and young people".
The mother is still in shock from seeing multiple videos of her son being attacked, but doesn't believe a ban on mobile phones in schools would stem the violence and fights.
"It'll stop some bullying, to a certain degree," she said.
She said mobile phones can be essential for students in emergencies.
Violence in public schools has been among the top safety issues for five consecutive years, a government report reveals.
Data shows there were more reports of violence in schools than any other issue, including criminal acts, drugs, weapons, welfare and technology concerns.