SCHOOL BAN ON FITBITS
They fuel body image fears, teachers say
A SCHOOL has banned Fitbits over concerns that pupils are skipping lunch if they fail to meet calorieburning targets.
Teachers fear the popular health monitors are having a bad effect on teenagers and making them obsessed with their body image.
The step-counting gadgets will be outlawed along with smart watches and phones at Stroud High School in Gloucestershire when the new term begins in September.
The 860-pupil grammar school introduced the phone ban to counter FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out – the constant lifestyle pressure on girls via social media.
Deputy headteacher Cindi Pride said: “There have been many reports about how excessive use of social media can have a negative impact on mental health, particularly for girls. And the situation is getting worse. It can have a real impact on self-esteem with people comparing themselves to others. “We are also banning Fitbits and smartwatches. We don’t need our girls to be counting calories.
“They are young women who are fit and healthy and they do exercise and PE and do not need to be obsessed with steps or calories.”
One parent said of the school’s ban: “This is a good move, which addresses important issues in an appropriate and measured way. Hopefully it will mean that the students communicate with each other more on a face-to-face basis in the real world.”