Headteacher's Blog #16

Last week I attended an information evening at Lytham Hall Park Primary School that was led by volunteers for a charity called smartphonefreechildhood. The aims of this movement are quite simple, that parents don't buy their children a smartphone until the age of 14 and they have no access to social media before the age of 16. The evidence of the damage of smartphones on children is overwhelming, and it is no surprise to me that the founders of the social media giants in Silicon Valley do not allow unfettered access to smartphones for their children. I have signed the school up to the network and we will be supporting parents to make these tough decisions on the transition to LSA in the next academic year. This is a true grass roots movement and has been adopted by a number of our local primary schools, I recommend it to you all. 

As many of you know Australia has banned social media access for its under 16s and yesterday support was given by the House of Lords for a ban on social media for under 16s in the UK. At its best social media connects communities, sharing ideas, events and celebrating achievements; it is for these reasons that social media companies were originally formed. At its worst social media posters publish untruths and half-truths, packaging them under the veneer of journalism. This form of social media is dangerous because it is unaccountable, it threatens the safety of vulnerable individuals and instigates witch hunts based on rumour and gossip. This is not journalism, it is clickbait, it has no concern for the public good or holding the powerful to account. It requires no training and has no ethical code. It may originate on the internet, but its effect is profound in the real world. As schools and governments around the world wrestle with the control of this incipient technology, we need to remember that a code of moral decency should sit behind all of our communication. Thank you all for your continued support, I am proud to be LSA.