Ashford school bans phones to stop online bullying

KentOnline / KMTV

Following a survey that shows that around a third of primary and secondary school students have been bullied, the John Wallis academy starting using magnet locks during school hours.  Kristin Hawthorne reports...

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00:00I actually do like it because for me it helps me and my friends try to communicate more,

00:06we focus more on lessons, I feel like we progress more in lessons.

00:10How much do you use your phone during the day?

00:13Well for the pupils at John Wallace School in Ashford,

00:16they use their phones very little and say that others should do the same.

00:20As part of their uniform, students at this school are given one of these pouches where

00:24at the start of the day they have to put their phone in and lock it where it stays

00:28in their backpack until the end of the day where they can unlock it using one

00:32of these magnets that are dotted around the skull and then it opens back up again.

00:37Yeah it helps me but also others in our class because some people on their phones

00:41distract other students but as a whole community we're able to focus more.

00:45It opened your attention span as well and it gave you more time to focus on lessons rather than

00:51constantly hearing notifications in your bag and because you've got that access for your phone.

00:55Now I can go play sport, I can do stuff like that without being

00:59oh why are you not on your phone, why are you not responding to my text in lesson.

01:03Usually when you find yourself on your phone for a long period of time,

01:07you kind of get distracted and you don't see what's going on around you.

01:11I think it's just made me realise that like

01:14the fact that a lot of this information is also in books.

01:17Once the ban was set in place, teachers at the school maintained to pupils that this

01:21change was not a punishment but rather something they should be excited about.

01:26So initially there was a disbelief, students were kind of a bit shocked,

01:31are you really going to take our phones away from us?

01:35But then when we explained it and we explained that this wasn't a punitive,

01:38this wasn't a punishment, we weren't taking something away, we were actually giving them back

01:43childhood, we were giving them back that ability to have meaningful conversations.

01:47We've introduced this for a year now, we've seen harmful online abusive behaviour,

01:53cyber bullying, that type of behaviour has reduced by 80%.

01:57But it's not just the pupils that have benefited from the change,

02:00as staff retention rates have seen a 12% reduction since the ban began.

02:05The shift in children's mobile usage however goes far beyond just this school.

02:10The crime commissioner for Kent said that it is more important now than ever that we

02:15talk about the problems that social media, smartphones and online bullying are causing

02:19to young people. We need to support schools in implementing smartphone policies.

02:24Anyone can become attached to checking and using their phone, causing many of us to depend on them

02:29during social situations and for information. But with phone bans being introduced for the

02:34younger generation, this problem could change in the future.

02:38Kristen Hawthorne, KMTV, Ashford.

02:45you

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