Boarding school bans mobile phones to combat social media addiction
GETTY A boarding school has mobile phones after pupils said they are addicted to social media
Mobiles will be banned at Benenden School, with social media blocked on the school's network, in a bid to free-up students' lives. Privileged pupils at the swanky £36,000-a-year boarding school in Benenden, Kent, will be forced to hand in their handsets on the evening of Sunday March 12 and will live without them until Wednesday 15 March. But if the ban is a success, it could become permanent.
I am expecting our Phone Fast to cause disquiet among some students Samantha Price, Headmistress
The idea was developed after senior management asked sixth formers how they could encourage pupils to reduce, and manage more effectively, their mobile phone use. Headmistress Samantha Price, who will also be going without her mobile, said: "I am expecting our Phone Fast to cause disquiet among some students, but if just one girl decides to switch off her phone an hour before they go to bed, then it will have been worth it. "Mobile phone use and addiction to social media is particularly topical, and rightly so, for its overuse among this generation is an affliction which is affecting the mental health and wellbeing of young people.
"As with most issues, the best way to address concerns about social media use in young people is through educating adults and children. "Our Phone Fast is part of this effort to educate our girls, particularly that there is life beyond social media and that we can all live and thrive either without it for a time, or in moderation."
SWNS Benenden School in Kent is also blocking social media on the school's network
NC Headmistress Samantha Price will also be going without her mobile
The school said the response from parents had been "tremendous". Victoria Molloy, Benenden's head girl, said: "I can't wait to see how the Phone Fast will prove that there is more to life than just our phones and social media." Alyssa Cho, another Sixth Former involved in the initiative, added: "We hope that everyone will take their eyes off their screens and enjoy what is around them."
GETTY The school already has strict rules around girls' use of mobiles