School bans phones in bid to improve pupils' social skills
Prince Charles’ former school has banned mobile phones in hopes of improving pupils’ social skills.
Lisa Kerr, headteacher of Gordonstoun, in Elgin, Scotland, says the school has already had a ‘surprisingly positive’ response to the technology ‘detox’.
She said: ‘One of the effects of our mobile phone ban has been a big increase in noise levels between lessons.
‘We see this as a good thing. Children are holding conversations, sharing jokes, catching up with each other and doing so face to face, not via social media.’
Ms Kerr said the ban means pupils have more time to engage in ‘sports, arts, expeditions and community service’ while at the £41,250-a-year school.
This could give them better chances of getting into university or finding a job once they graduate, she said.
She continued: ‘Without decisive action, we are in danger of raising a generation who cannot build meaningful relationships with a wide range of people.
‘This is already evident at social events – whereas once you would walk into a room and strike up a conversation with someone, now everyone has their heads buried in their phones.’
With no phones, children are also under less pressure to have the ‘latest devices’, which will help ‘end the stigma on pupils from families who cannot afford one’, Ms Kerr emphasised.
Gordonstoun has a curriculum which focuses increasing confidence and teamwork through activities including sport, drama, music and volunteering.
It was also attended by the Prince Philip, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
Earlier this year a headteacher at Michaela Community School in London compared allowing pupils to use phones at school to ‘letting them smoke, drink and watch porn’.
Children at the school, once dubbed the ‘strictest school in Britain’, are only allowed a phone on their person if it is turned off at all times.
Headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh said parents are putting their ‘child in danger’ if they have a smartphone before the age of 16.
She also noted that often use them to cheat on their homework and are soon ‘no longer able to follow a narrative in a book, or to sit for a two-and-a-half-hour GCSE exam paper’.
She said: ‘One of the effects of our mobile phone ban has been a big increase in noise levels between lessons.
‘We see this as a good thing. Children are holding conversations, sharing jokes, catching up with each other and doing so face to face, not via social media.’
Ms Kerr said the ban means pupils have more time to engage in ‘sports, arts, expeditions and community service’ while at the £41,250-a-year school.
This could give them better chances of getting into university or finding a job once they graduate, she said.
She continued: ‘Without decisive action, we are in danger of raising a generation who cannot build meaningful relationships with a wide range of people.
‘This is already evident at social events – whereas once you would walk into a room and strike up a conversation with someone, now everyone has their heads buried in their phones.’
With no phones, children are also under less pressure to have the ‘latest devices’, which will help ‘end the stigma on pupils from families who cannot afford one’, Ms Kerr emphasised.
Gordonstoun has a curriculum which focuses increasing confidence and teamwork through activities including sport, drama, music and volunteering.
It was also attended by the Prince Philip, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
Earlier this year a headteacher at Michaela Community School in London compared allowing pupils to use phones at school to ‘letting them smoke, drink and watch porn’.
Children at the school, once dubbed the ‘strictest school in Britain’, are only allowed a phone on their person if it is turned off at all times.
Headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh said parents are putting their ‘child in danger’ if they have a smartphone before the age of 16.
She also noted that often use them to cheat on their homework and are soon ‘no longer able to follow a narrative in a book, or to sit for a two-and-a-half-hour GCSE exam paper’.
