200 families tackle tech terror by signing up to school’s treaty

MORE than 200 families have signed up to a landmark internet and technology agreement drawn up at a Co. Clare school.

Children aged under 14 in Clarecastle National School are not allowed own a smartphone and will be bound by strict rules at home under the agreement.

The pact was drawn up between the school, their pupils and the children’s parents.

Dr Maureen Griffin – a forensic psychologist who specialises in activities online – helped draw up the ‘Internet and Technology Use Agreement’. And under the pact, children will be protected from bullying and sexual grooming online through filtering and safesearch restrictions.

Under the innovative arrangement – which could now be a blueprint for schools nationwide – Clarecastle NS will draw up a ‘Family Media Use Plan’ outlining when and where children use the internet at home.

The school’s principal, Martin Moloney, is ‘delighted’ with uptake rates at the school.

‘We have 250 families in total at the school and so far we have had 83% of families signing up to the new internet and technology agreement to date. I would hope that more families will sign up and see the benefits of what we are doing here,’ he said.

‘I think parents are very grateful for the support that the agreement gives them and how it measures their children’s internet use. When we undertook our initial research a lot of parents said they would welcome advice and guidance in the area and this is why we came up with the agreement with the help of Dr Maureen Griffin.’

Participating parents are encouraged to keep their children’s bedrooms ‘screen free’ to ensure they get enough sleep, set a nightly ‘device curfew’ and stop all use at least an hour before the child goes to bed.

The pact says families should also have designated screen-free times together.

Examples include meal time; when travelling short distances; and when visitors arrive.

In this way, children will learn it is polite to give visitors their full attention and rude to stare at video games and apps when people are talking.

The agreement follows research that shows how technology in the bedroom interferes with a good night’s sleep and leaves us underperforming the next day.

The agreement is not only intended to help protect children online but also offer support to parents struggling to manage the use of devices at home.

The Irish Daily Mail’s Protect Our Kids Online campaign has already highlighted how St Brendan’s National School in Blennerville, Co. Kerry, brought in the country’s first smartphone ban both in school and at home for sixth class. Within days, parents noticed how their children’s school performance and moods improved, prompting an extension of the ban throughout the school.

Clarecastle NS principal Mr Moloney said he has had a number of schools contact him since the school’s campaign was highlighted. ‘The thing I want to stress to other schools considering a similar step is the process by which they go about doing a similar plan. The process is what will make it successful. Any school can come along and draw up an agreement but that is not going to achieve the desired result,’ he stressed.

In February, an Irish survey revealed that 75.7% of people are in favour of under-14s being banned from having smartphones.