logo
Mobile phone ban in Highland schools moves step closer as former teacher warns of 'catastrophic' effects on pupils

Mobile phone ban in Highland schools moves step closer as former teacher warns of 'catastrophic' effects on pupils

Highland Council will soon be asking for views on mobile phone-use in schools after an ex-teacher spoke of the 'catastrophic' effects they have in classrooms.
Joint proposals tabled by Michael Gregson, who is now an Inverness councillor, to hold a consultation with the 'whole school community' on the use of devices have been unanimously approved.
Included in the plan is the council's commitment to supporting Highland schools that decide to ban pupils from using the devices in classrooms.
The proposals have not called for an outright ban, but the authors have made their voices clear that schools would be better without the 'constant distraction' of phones.
Inverness councillor Mr Gregson, who previously taught at Inverness Royal Academy, highlighted the current effects of phone-use in classrooms to councillors.
The former English teacher said 'we are in an age of fragmented attention span' and the 'highly addictive nature of smartphones is having a lasting effect on children's brains.'
Mr Gregson described the current situation as 'catastrophic' and called for Highland Council to 'address the power of mobile phones.'
He proposed the local authority consult the 'whole school community' and develop a policy for phones in schools which teachers could adopt or adapt.
He referenced a recent workshop by Bernadette Cairns, the principal educational psychologist at the council, who found there to be 'dysregulation and disengagement' in Highland classrooms.
Mr Gregson also referenced the current 'abusive use of mobile phones' in Scottish schools.
It comes after a Moray teacher spoke out about being filmed in school and shared online by pupils without her consent.
Aird and Loch Ness councillor Helen Crawford co-signed the proposals and said this was also an issue in Highland schools.
She called unwarranted photos or videos of teachers in the classroom 'entirely inappropriate and disrespectful'.
Councillor Crawford added the footage is used to 'bully or embarrass' teachers and hopes a ban on phones 'will ensure that comes to an end.'
The newly agreed proposal will see the council seek 'meaningful conversations' with school managers, parents, teachers and pupils for their views on phone-use in schools.
Both councillors stressed this does not necessarily mean an outright ban, but hopes a consultation will be a step towards getting 'these phones out of our schools.'
Nairn Academy and Grantown Grammar School have both already implemented their own individual bans on phones.
In the Highlands every child is given a Chromebook laptop, and both Mr Gregson and Mrs Crawford say this removes the 'need for phones as educational tools.'
The cross-party proposal faced no opposition in the chamber and officers will begin work on preparing the consultation.
Both Labour councillor Michael Gregson and Conservative councillor Helen Crawford said they were 'delighted.'
Speaking after the result, Mrs Crawford said: 'I'm delighted that schools across Highland now have the full backing of Highland Council when they implement a ban on the use of mobile phones during the school day.
'At the end of the day, we want all our kids to thrive and having the constant distraction of a mobile phone clearly does not help.'
She added: 'Let's get these phones out of our schools and let's free up our kids to concentrate and learn.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Falkirk Council has three times as many complaints as national average
Falkirk Council has three times as many complaints as national average

Daily Record

time11 hours ago

  • Daily Record

Falkirk Council has three times as many complaints as national average

By far the biggest cause for complaint was 'ongoing or incomplete repair times' Falkirk Council has three times the number of complaints compared to the Scottish average, members of its Scrutiny committee heard today (Tuesday). The largest number related to 'ongoing or incomplete repairs' (1030), but in the top ten reasons were also complaints about waste collection (364), staff conduct (206) and housing repairs (188). ‌ Stage 1 complaints in Falkirk also included council tenant advice & support (144) and 131 for household waste assisted collections. ‌ But the report was keen to highlight that while the council receives a higher number of complaints, "it is quicker to respond and more successful at early resolution". In 2023/24, Falkirk Council received 34 complaints per 1000 of population, compared with the national average of 11.5. ‌ The average time it took to respond was six working days, three days quicker than the national average. For stage two complaints, it took on average 20 days, compared with the Scottish average of 22. Of the stage one complaints, in Falkirk ten per cent were fully upheld - compared with the Scottish average of 32 per cent. ‌ At the first stage, 30 per cent of complaints were resolved quickly, compared to the Scottish average of 14 per cent. Stage 2 outcomes saw eight per cent of Falkirk's complaints being fully upheld, compared to the Scottish average of 26 per cent. Of the 47 complaints that have gone to the Scottish Public Ombudsman Service, just one was upheld. ‌ Members were also cautioned that not all councils provide the same services so making direct comparisons is not always possible. Some local authorities do not have housing or building maintenance departments, while these are by far the most common areas for complaints to Falkirk Council. Last year, 1030 stage one complaints concerned 'ongoing or incomplete repairs'. ‌ Members heard that "a lot of activity" is ongoing to improve the repairs procedure, which has already led to a fall in complaints, from 1347 last year. Members were told that ongoing training to give the workforce "bolt-on skills" is expected to have a big impact on improving customer satisfaction, as will a recently introduced booking system for appointments. The Director of Place Services, Malcolm Bennie, added that it was important to see the figures in context. ‌ "Every year we carry out around 40.000 repairs so the 1300 complaints you see before is actually 2-3 per cent. "I'm not saying those complaints are not important. We will drive service improvement wherever we can but it's important when you see a large number like that you have to understand the context that tens of thousands of repairs are happening. "We do tenant satisfaction checks with tenants about how happy they are with the repairs that are carried out and typically the scores are very high. ‌ "The BMD service is actually working well, on an improvement journey, and we are looking forward to coming back to Scrutiny later this year with a full suite of information." With just one year's figures to compare, Councillor Gordon Forrest was concerned at the lack of data from previous years, which would allow them to "see the bigger picture". He was told it had not been retained due to data protection rules but anonymised data that has been collated will be kept from now on to make future comparison. ‌ Councillor Alf Kelly also wanted to fully understand why complaints were dropping, saying: "If we don't know why complaints are dropping, we don't know where we are succeeding." Councillor Lorna Binnie said she was particularly concerned to see 206 complaints about staff conduct and wanted to understand more about the reasons for these, and how many had been upheld. Director of communities, Karen Algie, assured members that all complaints about staff conduct are taken seriously and thoroughly investigated. The figures are reported to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) which says councils must have processes in place to learn from complaints and use this learning to improve service delivery.

Waters of Life: A story of hope for beavers but misses out some hard truths
Waters of Life: A story of hope for beavers but misses out some hard truths

Scotsman

time20 hours ago

  • Scotsman

Waters of Life: A story of hope for beavers but misses out some hard truths

Going for a swim. Waters of Life envisages a hopeful future for beavers in Scotland, but the book also seems to shy away from some hard truths, writes Katharine Hay Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Family is a running theme in Tom Bowser's new book Waters of Life: A Fight for Scotland's Beavers. The families of beavers on his land, his family's involvement with them and the conservation family he formed when bringing the rodents to his farm in Perthshire. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad These personal references and relationships help deliver an emotive and raw account of the author's experience being the first landowner in Scotland to legally relocate beavers to spare some of the animals the bullet, which sounded desperately challenging at times. With Mr Bowser wanting the rodents on his suitable habitat, just a few kilometres from where they were causing upset in farming territory, you would think it be fairly straightforward to move them, especially given they would likely move there anyway. But no, not with the Scottish Government where, as many in the food production and conservation world know, the level of bureaucracy seems to know no bounds. Perhaps we need a few hypothetical dams in the never ending river of red tape to help trickle through clearer solutions. While a proportion of the book focuses on this lengthy legislative nightmare for what seemed like a pretty logical move with all the right people in place, the story also brings into sharp focus the dark underbelly of conservation on the ground with infighting that goes on. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Bowser's dedication to his cause is admirable, and his devotion to the rodents only seems to grow with every page, to the point where the book really becomes a eulogy to the beaver. The reputation of these animals being ecosystem engineers is brought to life with the author's almost fairy-tale-like descriptions of how his land transforms, boasting ponds teeming with insect life and birdsong filling the air above. The sense of wonder is added to with anecdotes of people's 'first beaver experiences' including his young daughter's. With the author being a former farmer, I was looking forward to there being a bit more of a measured voice in what is such a polarised debate about this heavily politicised animal. However, I was a little disappointed to find out that this was not the case - indeed, a fair chunk of the book plays to the predictable 'angry farmer' vs 'save the day conservationists' narrative. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Judging by the author's account, it certainly sounds as if these stereotypes played out in this case, from the disproportionately high cull numbers despite 'last resort' rules, to the fraught village hall meetings to the interviews with selected species reintroduction celebrities. But the sympathetic tone he deploys when talking about rewilder Derek Gow's 'f*** it' attitude when it comes to releasing wild animals, plus the absence of some voices from the farming community who are working hard on nature-friendly solutions, doesn't help encourage resolution. There are some sound ecological points made and Mr Bowser's story is certainly one of hope for the species to find a home in other parts of Scotland, with translocations to be a solution over culls. But there's an elephant in the room when you finish this book. What about when numbers increase? Which has happened elsewhere. When beavers were last in Britain before being driven to extinction, which the book also gives an interesting history lesson on, research shows there was a population of about 4 million people. Now, there are about 70 million of us on this island. Rural Scotland is also seeing a major industrial shift in the race for Net Zero with pylons, windfarms, hydro schemes, plans for hydrogen plants near rivers, commercial forestry, on top of the development that happened in the last industrial revolution and since. It's a very different world to the one beavers were initially pushed out of. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Bavaria is helpfully mentioned as a place for Scotland to look to for its beaver situation. But while the book mentions they have more than a thousand beaver officers to help with mitigation, which would be great here, the narrative appears to leave out discussions on how the German region culls about 8 per cent of the population every year, too. Mr Bowser's story seems to shy away from some of these hard truths.

Monty Don names one daily job to make sure roses 'carry more flowers'
Monty Don names one daily job to make sure roses 'carry more flowers'

Daily Mirror

time20 hours ago

  • Daily Mirror

Monty Don names one daily job to make sure roses 'carry more flowers'

Gardening expert Monty Don has shared a top tip for gardeners who want to keep their roses flowering for longer, and it's a job that needs to be done daily Roses are treasured by many green-fingered enthusiasts for the stunning spectacle they present when in full bloom. Gardening expert Monty Don has highlighted a key task that should be performed daily to help these cherished plants "carry more flowers". In his blog, where he offers monthly gardening tips, Monty declared that people simply cannot herald the month of June without mentioning roses. He shared with his followers that he's increasingly opting for English roses that offer repeat flowering, therefore prolonging their beauty beyond the peak of June. Monty then divulged his "secret" to cultivating roses that boast a longer blooming period, reports the Express. ‌ His advice was clear: "The secret of keeping any rose flowering as long as possible is to deadhead daily." Deadheading involves removing wilted blooms to promote further flowering and enhance both the look and structure of the rose. ‌ For roses, arguably the most emblematic and enchanting of garden flora, consistent deadheading is crucial to maintain their opulent display throughout the season. This practice not only keeps the roses looking pristine but also helps stave off diseases and pests that tend to target decaying petals and hips. Monty stressed that gardeners should avoid merely plucking off dead petals; instead, they should use secateurs to cut the spent stem back to the next leaf or bud below, no matter how far down it might be. Monty highlighted the benefit of deadheading, stating it would "provoke a side-shoot which in turn will carry more flowers". He advised gardeners to regularly deadhead repeat-flowering shrub roses and those once-flowerers that don't bear hips. Furthermore, Monty emphasised the importance of continuing this practice well into July. He explained: "It is very important to keep deadheading roses in July as the petals fade to encourage repeat flowering, but some roses will have now finished all that they are going to do this year."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store