Leading headteacher calls for 7am to 7pm school days to break pupils' smartphone addictions

21 April 2024, 21:58

A leading headteacher wants to introduce 12-hour days to break pupils' phone addictions and improve behaviour.

The headteacher at All Saints Catholic College in Notting Hill, west London, said he wants his students at school from 7am to 7pm to help them break the cycle of going home to be on their phones.

Instead, Andrew O'Neill said he wants his pupils to take part in extra-curricular activities like dodgeball, basketball, art, drama and cookery classes to fill the extra time in a healthier manner.

Read More: ‘This is levelling up’: Jamie Oliver calls on all mayors across the country to offer free school meals for children

Mr O'Neill told The Times that smartphones were making Generation Z into apathetic and anxious, adding that he had seen "some of the most shocking things I have ever seen" on devices.

This breadth of content included sexting, pupils blackmailing eachother and cyberbullying.

The Headteacher of the Year award-winner said that his school originally banned phones in 2016 - but allowed students to keep the devices inside lockers.

The 900-strong cohort were stopped from carrying phones on their person because their faculty was worried for the impact on kids' social skills.

The initial move was spurred on by Mr O'Neill noticing phone use was hampering his pupil's ability to maintain eye contact - and also that they were coming into school tired because of late-night gaming.

"We have a long-term issue we need to solve, he told the Times.

"Some children are so apathetic. They don’t care about anything.

"They are buried in their phones."