๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒโ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ-๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐ณ ๐น๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ?
This morning, I was struggling to get the lid off a bottle of aspirin when it struck meโฆ
At some point in the history of tablet-form medication, responsible and watchful adults must have recognised the serious risks these pills posed to children. Perhaps, sadly, action only came after dreadful accidents caused by children mistaking pills for sweets.
(The curious geek in me turned to Google to discover that child-resistant packaging only became widespread in the late 1960s and early 1970s, after a rise in accidental poisonings).
Regulators required smarter design, prompting ingenious problem-solvers and packaging designers to create child-proof lids.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ปโฆโฆ,๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป.
As a parent of teenagers, Iโve struggled (like every parent I know) with parental control tools, screentime limits, device bans, and confiscated phones and tablets. I donโt know a single parent who hasnโt felt helpless in the face of Big Techโs addictive algorithms. Iโm no social scientist and I donโt pretend to have the answer. But Iโm not convinced that outright bans on smartphones and social media are the answer.
Which leaves me asking:
๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต ๐๐ช๐จ ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ-๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ช๐ฅ?
I am heartened by the growing debate and by the work Iโm seeing in proactive schools that have co-designed clear phone and device policies with the input of parents; policies that safeguard children and support teachers to teach without competing with smartphones, (E.g.: Abbey Gate College and Claires Court)
Independent schools, with their ability to innovate, trial and implement change at pace, are leading the way, and sharing their learning and best practice.
Iโm proud to be an independent schooling parent.
This weekโs government announcement signalling a consultation on restricting social media access for under-16s, is, at last, an acknowledgement that the status quo isnโt working.
Schools are acting. Parents are still worried. Big Tech has shown little appetite for child-first design.
๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ก๐จ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐, ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐-๐ก๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ , ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ, ๐๐จ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฃ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ช๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐-๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ค๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ก๐?
