Social Media: Is it the biggest danger in a modern boarding house?
When looking at the modern boarding houses, there is one day to day issue that for me shine above all others; the mobile phone. When you have prestigious heads calling them those ‘infernal machines’ 1 there can be no doubt that the management of schools, classrooms and boarding houses is now as much about managing the pupils’ addiction to screens as it is their general behaviour and attitudes. However, the management side of the issue is something that I will leave to SLT members to discuss and plan - it is the mental health and online aspect that I am more concerned with and have seen creeping into the boarding House. When two in five children now feel online anxiety 1 and that 8% feel that they have negative experiences all or most of the time whilst online, there is no doubting that we have an issue. I have even had parents calling me up and asking for advice on managing their son’s phone use. This is clearly a growing epidemic that boarding Houses...