Shwmae bawb
I want to update you all about our approach to advice on your child's access to smartphones and social media, which is a topic that has been on my mind a lot recently for several reasons: first, because of following the progress of the Online Safety Bill through Parliament; second, because I am reading The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt at the moment (a brilliant but alarming read); third, because in conversations I have with parents and carers where we are discussing concerns, most will at some point express really significant concern about their child's use of social media, the amount of time they spend on their smartphones, and the negative impact on their child's wellbeing and mental health after spending lots of time on a screen.
I have been discussing all of this with the primary school headteachers in our Monmouth 'cluster', along with other schools across the county, and here is where we have got to: we want to be the first county in the UK where every single school is advocating a smartphone-free childhood for their students.
You will know that mobile phones are not permitted to be used at all at MCS during the school day (except for Sixth Form students in designated study areas), which is an approach that all Monmouthshire secondary schools now take. This approach will continue, and we are not collectively suddenly demanding that parents and carers must replace all smartphones with 'simple' phones. We are trying to strike the right balance, as we recognise that choosing whether to buy your child a smartphone, or indeed any phone, is entirely your decision as a parent or carer. However, we can also see the significant harm that unfettered access to the whole of the internet is doing to our young people, as well as the safeguarding risks that it poses. When we give our young people access to the whole world in their pocket, we give the whole world access to our young people. Young people with smartphones are at increased risk of being exposed to harmful content, of becoming addicted to the devices, are distracted more easily from their learning, are at risk of grooming and 'sextortion', are vulnerable to cyberbullying and suffer worse mental health. So, our aim is to have a unified voice as educators across the county, to strongly encourage our young people to be entirely smartphone-free until at least the start of Year 10.
Clearly this can't happen if schools act in isolation - we need your support and collaboration. This is a long-term project for our local communities, not something that can be fixed quickly. I will write again with more details and links to research that you may find helpful, but in the meantime if you are interested in contributing to this work by providing parental input, please let us know.
Many thanks for your attention to this, and I wish you all the best for the weekend ahead.
Hugo Hutchison
Headteacher
