School bans Fitbits and mobiles

A GIRLS’ school has banned Fitbits and other fitness trackers over concerns that pupils are counting calories and skipping lunch to meet their targets.

Teachers fear that the health monitors, which count steps walked and calories burned, are having a bad effect on teenagers, making them obsessed with their body image.

The gadgets will be outlawed together with smartwatches at Stroud High School, Glos, when the new term begins in September. The 860-pupil academy, rated “outstanding” by Ofsted, is also banning mobile phones for younger pupils, as they say the constant pressure on teenagers to be seen to be having fun on social media is taking a toll on their mental health.

Cindi Pride, the school’s deputy head teacher, said of the ban on Fitbits: “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 of calories.”