Saturday, October 5, 2024

Mobile Madness

Nikolay Kalinin slams Gavin Williamson’s war on mobile phones in schools

Away from pursuing the passage of the blatantly stupid Higher Education Bill, Gavin Williamson has decided to wage war on mobile phones in schools, saying that they are “not just distracting, but when misused or overused, they can have a damaging effect on a pupil’s mental health and wellbeing.” Coupled with the Tory majority, the proposal will most certainly become law.

 

Admittedly, there is some ground to his arguments – yes, I too cannot believe I said that – as apps such as TikTok and Instagram are not only distracting, but also could be used for cyberbullying and sexual harassment, as Ofsted has highlighted.

 

However, this legislation is both useless and is some cases even harmful; for starters, schools already have restrictions regarding mobile phone use; some for example require students to switch devices off before class or put them into a box, and some can ban their usage outright. I’m not usually a supporter of libertarianism, but policies like this do make sense because they are flexible.

 

Portable telephone can also be used for beneficial purposes; the CEO of Mumsnet for example recently wrote an article criticising Gavin’s proposal and revealing that one of her friend’s sons who has special needs uses his phone to record verbal instructions and take photos of the board.

 

There are also apps such as Evernote which allow students to organise their notes and therefore increase their chances of memorising knowledge. For many students therefore, the phone is not just a tool for entertainment, it’s also a tool for education.

 

If Gavin Williamson truly cares about the wellbeing of children, perhaps he should instead focus on increasing catch-up spending for students – which is only £50 per head here, while the Netherlands provides £2,500 per head – and stop trying to indoctrinate children through the endorsement of such claptrap as the One Britain, One Nation campaign.

 

The catch-up situation is in particular important because technology is not to blame for the decline of children’s education; rather it’s the lack of financial support they and their schools receive.

 

Gavin Williamson mobile phone school ban 1
Used properly and appropriately, technology has a place in learning.
Nikolay Kalinin
Nikolay Kalininhttp://thesteepletimes.com
Nikolay Kalinin is a blogger who has been writing articles published on the automotive site ‘DriveTribe’ since July 2020. Previously, he ran his own blog about politics and culture in Russia.

4 COMMENTS

  1. When I was at school in the 1970s, I don’t recall there being a public telephone on the premises or a red public telephone box near by. How on earth did we survive without such communication devices?

  2. Although a mobile phone is a good little tool to have, but with the technology incorporated into them today, they then become a danger to the very people they are supposed to help. Children’s and young people’s brains are not developed enough to use them without leaving themselves vulnerable to all sorts of nasty things and people. They are a curse to young people and children imo

Comments are closed.

£1 per week Supports The Steeple Times

Help journalism to remain honest & independent. You can make a difference to the world today.

3,573FansLike
2,068FollowersFollow
16,731FollowersFollow
4,962SubscribersSubscribe

Subscribe For DAILY NEWS

Please subscribe, like and share this unique site, it helps us tremendously. The Steeple Times in return will send you an email at noon each and everyday, that we sincerely hope you will enjoy & look forward to seeing in your inbox.

AD
Advertisement

Trending Now

Who Did Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell Sex Traffic Their Victims To? Unsealing of Epstein Documents, New Book About Maxwell

As 200 pages of transcripts about the 2006 investigation into paedophile Jeffrey Epstein are unsealed, a new book – released Thursday – examines “who is permitted to speak” about sexual abuse by an abuse victim present at mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 trial; One key question still remains tellingly unanswered: “Who did these two monsters actually sex traffic their victims to?”

Bonking Bone Bombards Bonny Broadstairs – Disgraced Sex Fiend Tory Peter Bone’s Lover To Stand In East Thanet

Matthew Steeples suggests the General Election is going “bonkers in Broadstairs” after the Tories replace “bionic man” Craig Mackinlay with the lover of the disgraced sex fiend Tory Peter Bone as their candidate in East Thanet; elsewhere, petulant ‘popstar’ Holly Valance may throw her hat in for Reform in Basildon and Billericay.

Margaret Burke

Former Neo-Nazi supporting HMP Holloway jailbird turned one-time Labour Party councillor Margaret Burke happily hung around with hypocrites Diane Abbott, Jeremy Corbyn and Caroline Flint; will she get a ‘photo op’ with the drippy dope Sir Keir Starmer during General Election 2024?

Most Popular Articles

The Phil & Matt Show

Phillip Schofield filmed smoking shisha with his alleged ex-lover Matt McGreevy (and pictured in bed thereafter); another image shows the pair together in photograph...

Was Mucky Minx Meghan Markle A ‘Yacht Girl’ For ‘Randy Andy’?

As author Kirby Sommers suggests that the then Meghan Markle likely spent time with Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein before she met Prince Harry, we again highlight the mucky, murkiness and mendacious manner of this alleged “yacht girl.”

SchofieldLite

‘Politicalite’ suggest Phillip Schofield orchestrated his ‘mass coming out’ after a former ‘This Morning’ runner had gone to the press about a supposed relationship...

Meddling Meghan Markle Expose – Attwood, Hopkins & Steeples

Expose interview with Matthew Steeples by Shaun Attwood and Jennifer Hopkins about the former Meghan Markle watched over 73,000 times in 16 hours since it aired; Steeples condemns hapless Prince Harry and his meddling menace wife.