Dingwall pupils take action on the harmful effects of excessive screen time
A DINGWALL Primary School P7 class have given up their mobile phones overnight, as a part of their new campaign to Look Up.
The P7B class were enlightened to the impact of their mobile phones after watching a Channel 4 documentary, titled Swiped, that saw a school give up their devices for 21 days.
The pupils were shocked to find out shocking statistics related to mobile phones, including children as young as nine being exposed to porn on the internet, and how easily kids can lie about their age to get into age-restricted apps.
Class teacher, Ms Mellon said: “The school in the documentary took part in a big digital detox, and we decided we wanted to do that too.
“We decided to hand-in our phones overnight — and it was actually a really good night! The class made an effort to meet up and spend time together instead of being on their phones.”
After the detox success, the class decided that they wanted to spread the word further, naming their campaign Look Up. They made a presentation to the rest of Dingwall Primary School in assembly, and made posters to share online. When speaking to the other classes, the P7s discovered that eight of the P2/3 class already had phones.
On February 13, the class held another overnight phone detox, while encouraging everyone else in the school to take part. They had a total of 30 devices handed in.
“We’re not saying ‘Don’t have a phone’, we just want people to be more aware of how much time they are spending on their phone,” Ms Mellon said. “Because they are P7, they are the cool kids of the school! So the younger kids seeing them encouraging each other to play outside without their phones, is such a good message.”
