Phone addiction concerns raised by councillor

SMARTPHONE addiction could be seriously harming pupil attainment across Dumfries and Galloway, a councillor has warned.

Youngsters receive an average of 237 notifications per day on their mobile phones, tablets, and now smartwatches, research has shown.

And North West Dumfries Councillor Paula Stevenson has raised concerns not only about the mental health impact on teens, but also the negative consequences for their grades, writes Marc McLean.

She said: “Twelve to 15-year-olds now spend on average 35 hours a week on their devices – as reported by the University of Birmingham.

“It is therefore time this council reassessed its bring-your-own-device policy to ensure that pupils are equipped with devices so that they don’t have 237 distractions when they are needing to focus and concentrate on raising attainment.”

Her motion calling for Dumfries and Galloway Council to review its digital policy was agreed at last week’s meeting.

Ofcom data released last year showed that 62 percent of 8–11 year olds in Scotland own a mobile phone, rising to 96 percent for 12-15 year olds. Many take their phones to school.

Councillor Stevenson said: “This council has had a bring-your-own-device policy for schools whereby secondary school children bring their mobile phones, tablets, and now their smart watches to school to use for online needs within the educational setting.

“Common sense media organisations inform us that children will receive on average 237 smartphone notifications a day. On the effects of smartphone addiction on learning, a paper concludes that ‘excessive smartphone use has negative impacts on grades’.

“Further reports suggest improvement in grades when use is limited.”

She added: “It is therefore time this council reassessed its policy to ensure pupils are equipped with devices so hey don’t have 237 distractions when they are needing to focus and concentrate on raising attainment.”

Education director Gillian Brydson responded, saying: “We are aware of tensions and opposing views in the mobile phone in school arena.

“We’ve got an agreement with our school communities that we take a school by school approach. Having a blanket approach for Dumfries and Galloway was not felt to be right at that time.”