The head teacher of Speyside High School said she would consider banning mobile phones in school, amid a raft of negative “changes” in pupil behaviour in recent years.
Patricia Goodbrand said she had noticed a rise in physicality among boys, fighting among girls, and smartphone “addiction” since lockdown.
And she blames it largely on social media.
Mrs Goodbrand said rising violence in Moray classrooms is “a result of young people’s lives being led through social media.”
In a wide-ranging interview with The P&J, she said staff at the Aberlour school had “concerns about the wellbeing of young people being on their phones so much.”
She said: “If there was a move to completely ban smartphones it would be something I think we would consider.”
When asked whether she would support a ban on smartphones in school, she replied: “I would support looking into a ban.”
Rising violence in Moray schools: ‘Social media has led to a lot of these things happening’
Classroom violence is on the rise in Moray secondary schools.
Between April and October 2023 a total of 1,647 violent or aggressive incidents in Moray schools were recorded.
That compares with 537 over the same period the previous year – an increase of 206%. And equivalent to 86 incidents a week, or 17 a day.
Mrs Goodbrand said that “social media has led to a lot of these things happening that wouldn’t previously have happened.
“And I think that’s a result of young people’s lives being led through social media.”
The P&J recently spoke to a head teacher at another Moray secondary school, who told us their school was still struggling with the impact of lockdown.
They said fighting, truancy, lateness, a lack of respect, poor social interaction, and anxiety had all got worse after lockdown, and that their school was still dealing with the consequences.
And Mrs Goodbrand – who is also chairwoman of the Moray Secondary Head Teachers Association – said: “Young people are different now since coming back from Covid.”
When asked in what way they had changed, she said simply: “Social media.
“They rely on social media more. And I do worry that when they were in lockdown, that was how they were in touch with everybody, and that continues to be the way they’re in touch with each other.
“Social media, I’d say, is the biggest problem. And it leads to these other things becoming problems.”
Parents mobilising, and Speyside High School head sympathises
There’s a growing movement among parents – and some teachers – to ban smartphones from schools.
A Holyrood petition calling for a ban on mobile phone use in Scottish schools went live last week, quickly gathering thousands of signatures.
A growing number of independent schools in Scotland, and some state schools, have prohibited their use.
Government-led guidance banning the use of phones during the school day has been introduced in England and France.
In a staff survey at a Moray secondary school last month, 79% said phones are a distraction to pupils, 62% said misuse of phones disrupts learning, 59% said phones create conflict between teachers and pupils, and 49% said phones are used to film teachers and pupils without consent.
Mrs Goodbrand said: “If there was a move to completely ban smartphones it would be something I think we would consider.
“If we can go to these dumbphones [phones with only basic functions like calling and texting], that would be better.”
When asked whether smartphones were a topic of discussion in the staff room at Speyside High School, she said: “Yes. Absolutely.
“Just concerns about the wellbeing of young people being on their phones so much.
“And that addiction to the phone, and the consequences of relationships developed over the phone, rather than face-to-face, and people getting involved in things they previously wouldn’t have.
“Previously, if someone fell out, that was it. Whereas now, it goes on to group chats or whatever, and other people get involved in things that have nothing to do with them, and it grows arms and legs.
“It’s not good for anybody.”
‘It’s social media that fuels it’
Among changes in pupil behaviour Mrs Goodbrand had noticed at Speyside High School were boys being more physical with each other.
“We notice that boys who are now in S3 and S4 – what stage they were when they were in Covid lockdown I can’t quite work out – they’re much more physical with each other than they would normally have been at S3 and S4.
“It’s almost like that hierarchy of where these lads are hasn’t been sorted when they were younger.
“They grab each other and they’re patting each other on the head all the time, there’s fist pumps in the corridors, banging into each other’s shoulders and things like that.
“It’s not what they used to do.”
When asked whether she’d witnessed more fighting among pupils, she said: “Well, not with boys. Girls, on the other hand…but again, it’s social media that fuels it.”
Confirming that she’s seen more fighting among girls since lockdown, she said: “Yes. We’ve had more experience of that.
“It’s social media. Now, I’m going to tread very carefully here, because there’s things that have happened in the school…but I would say girls are more involved in that, and it’s because they get more involved on social media. And then it spills into school the next day.”
It was put to Mrs Goodbrand that perhaps the logical conclusion would be to ban smartphones.
“Surely it is, yes,” she replied.
Read our full interview with Speyside High School head
The Speyside High School head teacher spoke on a variety of topics in her interview with The P&J, including the truth behind school league tables, finding the “happy medium” between higher education and learning a trade, changes ahead to the curriculum, and the “mental agility” required as a head teacher.
Full interview: Social media is changing our youth for the worse, says Speyside High School head
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