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Students are not allowed to use mobile phones in school from September 1st, 2018

2nd Sep 2018

Recent research on mobile phone usage by teenagers has raised significant concerns:

  • Potential Mental Health Issues
  • Insomnia
  • General psychological distress
  • Academic underperformance

We have looked at this recent research and have decided that we can no longer support the use of mobile phones in school. They are a great source of distraction to our students and their learning.

Pupils using mobile devices late into the night are putting themselves at the most risk. The  exposure to blue light from mobile phones can ruin a good nights sleep and puts us all at risk of many different health problems.

A study published on Childnet has revealed;

  • that teenagers who engage with social media during the night are damaging their sleep and increasing their risk of anxiety and depression.
  • teenagers spoke about the pressure they felt to make themselves available 24/7, and the resulting anxiety if they did not respond immediately to texts or posts.
  • that teenagers are so emotionally invested in social media that a fifth of secondary school pupils will wake up at night and log on, just to make sure they don’t miss out.
  • teenagers need 9.5 hours of sleep each night but on average only get 7.5 hours.
  • that a lack of sleep can make teenagers tired, irritable, depressed and more likely to catch colds and flu and is detrimental to the learning ability

 

In June 2018 BBC News reported;

  • 45% of young people are checking their mobile phones after they have gone to bed,
  • A survey of 2,750 11- to 18-year-olds found one in 10 admitted checking their mobile phones for notifications at least 10 times at night.
  • 68% of all respondents say using their mobile devices at night affects their school work
  • 25% say they feel tired during the day because of how often they use their mobile device at night
  • Almost half (42%) keep their phone next to their bed at night
  • They recommend having a "digital detox" and putting mobile devices away for 90 minutes before lights-out or keeping them out of the bedroom.

A study, published by the London School of Economics, stated that

" the impact of banning phones for students was equivalent to an additional hour a week in school, or to increasing the school year by five days."

It is time to listen to what the research is telling us and stop the use of mobile phones in our school.

From September 1st, 2018 students are not allowed to use mobile phones anywhere in the school building or school grounds.