Cowes Enterprise College is set to ban its students from using their phones during the school day following an announcement from the Ormiston Academies Trust.
The trust, which oversees a total of 42 state schools across the country, is looking to phase out smartphones.
In a statement released over the weekend, Ormiston’s Chief Executive Tom Rees said that the trust was seeing ‘huge and real concerns about pupil’s mental health’, adding that he and his staff were seeing ‘real concerns about self-harm, attempted suicide and A&E admissions’.
Pupils at Ormiston’s primary, special needs and alternative provision schools are already banned from using their phones.
It is believed that the changes will be introduced at some facilities this term with the resulting changes implemented at other schools at a later date, after parents have been consulted. It is unclear when the changes will begin at Cowes.
Island secondary schools have hit the headlines in recent weeks following a new uniform code being unveiled at Ryde Academy and gates being installed outside the toilets at The Bay Secondary.
Youths today are addicted to their phones, they get angry when they don’t have a mobile phone to play with. There is no need for them to take them into school. All of their friends are at school with them so they don’t need to message them.
If there is a family emergency the school can be contacted.
When I was a bairn I was told not to sit close to the TV as I would get square eyes or need glasses.
You wait and see this generations IQ and poor eyesight after growing up staring at a small screen for 18 hours a day.
There’ll be short attention span and they’ll be wearing Coke bottle glasses.
Crush the phones and you will crush unruly behavior.
This is about time and is a good idea.