Parenting guru backs school’s phone ban ‘all the way’
Coleman adds voice to growing calls for action
TOP parenting guru David Coleman has said he supports Blennerville National School’s smartphone ban ‘all the way’.
The clinical psychologist, who specialises in working with children, teens and their families, has been travelling around the country giving talks about technology and internet safety.
At one of his events, he referenced the ban by the Co. Kerry school – and later said the audience appeared to wholeheartedly agree with Blennerville’s actions. Staff and parents of pupils at the school agreed to a home and school ban on smartphones and similar devices – and after just eight days, the experiment has been hailed as a huge success by all involved.
Parents say their children’s performance and moods have improved, with many revealing that the youngsters have been showing a renewed interest in family time, outside activities, sport or communal games.
Mr Coleman said he got ‘lots of nodding heads and broad agree- ment from the audience’ as he referred to the school’s smartphone ban.
The parenting expert took to Facebook to write about the experience, saying: ‘Maybe this is the way that every school should go?’ And he added that, if so, ‘I’d support it all the way!’
The married Co. Clare-based psychologist has three children, two of whom are teenagers. On his website, he writes: ‘I try to practice what I preach.’ Mr Coleman’s stance is a boost to the Irish Daily Mail’s campaign raising awareness of the dangers of smartphones for children. The Mail’s ‘Protect Our Kids Online’ initiative calls for a minimum age for smartphone ownership.
And in a further boost, Junior Minister for Sport Brendan Griffin has said he will be talking to Education Minister Richard Bruton next week about using Blennerville as an example of how to bring a ban on smartphones to other schools across the country. The Kerry TD told the Mail last night he was ‘very impressed’ after visiting the school yesterday.
And when asked by this newspaper if he would be raising the subject of Blennerville to the Education Minister and saying, ‘Look, they’ve brought this ban in and it’s working and its great’, Mr Griffin said: ‘It is something that this morning I spoke to the [Blennerville] principal [Terry O’Sullivan] about.
‘I said that I will be talking to Minister Bruton next week about what you have done here and about encouraging that approach and that I think only positive things can come from that.’
The Fine Gael TD also said he would be ‘open to consideration’ of introducing an age restriction on children owning a smartphone. Minister Bruton recently announced his intention to issue a circular to all schools, ordering them to review their smartphone policy with parents, teachers and students. Fianna Fáil has called for an outright ban on smartphones in all schools up to Junior Certificate level.
Mr Griffin admitted the State could ‘potentially play a role in this’, but added that Blennerville has shown that ‘you don’t have to wait for the State to do something’. He said that individual communities ‘can help themselves here, and can do what they feel is appropriate in relation to their own cases’.
Regarding a possible age restriction for smartphones, he said: ‘I’d be open to various proposals that would help children and help parents. I have seen conflicting evidence, some people would set the age at 12, some people would set the age at 17.
‘So I mean, what is the best thing to do? That is the question that would need to be answered and you would have to be confident that you are doing the right thing. But anything that helps children I would be very open to, of course.’
An Irish Daily Mail/Ireland Thinks poll, published in January, showed 69% of people support a smartphone ban for under16s, with 30% against and 1% having no opinion.
Additionally, a petition signed by more than 2,000 readers of this newspaper, calling for an age restriction for smartphones, was handed over to embattled Communications Minister Denis Naughten.
Comment – Page 14 emmajane.hade@dailymail.ie
‘You don’t have to wait for the State’