It is a big step that Eton College is taking to enhance the welfare of its students.
From next term, students joining the institution will not be allowed to have smartphones with them.
They will instead receive simple Nokia phones with little or no features such as cameras or music players.
This decision stems from emerging trends that portray that gadgets affect the mental health and behaviour of young students.
Eton College thinks that limiting the usage of smartphones may help Fletcher improve their attentiveness, alleviate anxiety, and enhance their quality of life.
Why Eton is Making the Change?
Mike Grenier, deputy headteacher in charge of pastoral care at Eton, wrote this in a letter to parents to explain to them why the school is implementing this change.
He also said that when used appropriately smartphones can be usable.
They may assist students in keeping in touch with classmates and receiving necessary information.
But of course, there are so many disadvantages to smartphone use.
Mobile devices have side effects such as learning deficiencies and social isolation in which learners would rather communicate through their gadgets instead of physically.
They can also be misused in negative ways including allowing cases like cyberbullying.
Smartphones have been indicated as having negative effects on both physical as well as mental well-being.
To avoid these negative impacts, Eton decided to shift to the use of basic Nokia models.
How the change will work
According to the Business Insider website, from September this year, the school will supply a Nokia mobile phone to all first-year students at Eton College who are normally 13-year-old students in year nine.
Such phones are dumb phones that cannot browse the internet and are only capable of making calls and sending messages.
Parents are required to take their child’s smartphone home after moving the SIM card to the new Nokia phone.
It is for this reason that this change seeks to help students focus on their books and be more interactive with their peers without the interruptions that come with smartphones.
A growing trend among schools
Eton College is not the only school in a bid to reduce students’ smartphone usage in this school and College.
Other schools are also aware of the adverse effects of smartphones and are also acting on them.
For instance, Alleyn’s School in Dulwich has urged parents to refrain from purchasing smartphones for their children.
All Saints Catholic College in Notting Hill will make the school day 11 hours long to help kids stop using smartphones too much.
The head of Streatham and Clapham High School says parents should keep phones out of kids’ bedrooms and only use them when needed.
Schools are now ready to make smartphone use less easy to protect students’ mental health.
Support from other community members
Eton College has joined other institutions in implementing a ban on the use of smartphones, opting for the use of basic phones instead.
Smartphone Free Childhood is a campaign group that is receiving more members and support.
Joe Ryrie, one of the founders of the group, focused on the fact that all children should be protected from the harm of the overuse of smartphones.
He also noted that it is the children from low-income households that are most affected by such harm.
Children with such conditions are most likely to spend more time in front of a screen and they face more risks in cyberspace including bullying and viewing of prohibited content.
By limiting the use of smartphones, schools such as Eton seek to foster safer and healthier learning conditions for all learners.
The effect on students
The new rules are expected to enhance the performance and development of the students at Eton College.
The school feels that through such measures the students will spend less time on the phones and thus study better and communicate better with the people around them.
The school also wants students to engage in healthier behaviours like being more active and sleeping more by limiting time spent on their smartphones.
In the long run, Eton strives for these changes to enable students to groom themselves into better persons in life.
A step towards healthier student life
Eton College is making a good decision by switching new students from smartphones to basic Nokia phones.
This change aims to solve problems caused by modern technology.
By doing this, Eton is helping students healthily use technology. Many other schools should follow Eton’s example.
This shows the importance of creating an educational environment where students learn and become responsible citizens without smartphones causing problems.
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