Tanya Chilcott
September 04, 2009 12:00am
BANNING mobile phones has halted cyber bullying and transformed classrooms for the better in one north Queensland high school, the principal says.
At lunchtime, you can actually hear the policy’s success.
Atherton State High School principal Tony Whybird said the sound of children playing again at lunchtime, instead of silently texting on their mobiles or listening to iPods, was nothing short of “sensational”.
The ban started from this term, with all electronic devices barred from use within the school’s grounds.
Mr Whybird said students were still allowed to carry mobiles in their bags but phones were confiscated if “seen or heard”.
Parents then have to collect the devices.
“Basically the kids have to turn them off, they have to stay in their bags or they can turn them in,” he said.