I'm A Headteacher – Hugh Grant’s Criticism Of Schools And Screen Time Doesn’t Add Up

Hugh Grant (left) and the author (right)I like Hugh Grant as much as the next person. His song and dance number at the end of Paddington 2, alone, should guarantee national treasure status.But the actor goes too far in casting a hard stare at all use of technology in schools.Recently, Grant appeared at an event for the campaign group Close Screens, Open Minds – which is calling for the ban of smartphones, tablets and laptops in UK classrooms – and hit out at some schools because of their attitudes towards technology in the classroom.As a headteacher, I am acutely aware of the danger posed by unfettered access to technology.I support social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s call for access to social media, in particular, to be limited to adolescents aged 16 and over.Even if we cannot definitively prove that such technology has caused an adolescent mental health crisis, the correlation between the two more than justifies such an approach.But shielding children from the harmful effects of technology is only part of our responsibility. We also owe them an education in its positive potential and ethical instruction in its responsible use.Art lessons involving digital painting, music lessons employing synthesised instruments, design technology lessons that print complex machinery in three dimensions, geography lessons that use satellite imagery to transport students to the Antarctic – which of these learning experiences should we abandon, simply because, somewhere along the way, they involve a microprocessor?Yes, there is a risk that technology may be over-used or used as a coverall for lazy teaching.These risks are of a piece with other risks that most schools know how to manage.And none of this is to argue that children should spend anything approaching a majority of their schooltime in front of a screen. They should not.But ‘technology’ is too broad a category to be susceptible to absolutes and too essential to the world beyond the school gate to ignore.Facilities with technology in all its forms will be central to our children’s ability to lead productive, healthy lives in the coming decades.Schools are still the best place for them to learn how.Alex Crossman is headteacher of the London Academy of Excellence.Related...Hugh Grant Blasts 'Pathetic' Rules At His Children's 'Ridiculous Posh Private Schools'Everything We Believe About Kids And Phones Might Be Wrong, Study FindsMy 4-Year-Old Took My Phone Away. Here's What I Learned In The Aftermath

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