Dear Parents and Carers

I read an interesting report this week which stated that banning mobile phones in school didn’t particularly improve grades and wellbeing as the amount of time kids spent on their phones remained similar. The report did confirm what everybody now seems to accept though – that smart phones are detrimental to kids in many ways and the debate will continue about banning them at all schools or altogether. This report also prompted me to discuss with my own son how much time he was spending on his phone and when. This is easily done through the digital wellbeing and parental control link within settings on androids and through searching screen time on iphones. Predictably he was spending, in my opinion, far too much time on the phone so I got busy playing with the parental controls which turned the bored, monosyllabic grunts I usually get into a tirade of abuse and claims of privacy. He eventually asked what he should do instead of staring at his phone screen. The withering look I got when I suggested he could spend more time with his Mum and me – well I’ve never seen someone so clearly think I’m an idiot, and that’s up against some pretty stiff competition. Still, I would rather have this row than leave him at the mercy of the wild west that is the online world. I have some trust for my son but there are limits and I have no trust for what’s out there online, so better safe than sorry.

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