Private school head says Scotland's mobile phone ban is 'wrong move for pupils'
While a phone ban is certain next step for Scottish schools, Dr Lucy Hay believes it is a move in the wrong direction
Dr Lucy Hay may be out of step with her peers in believing a mobile phone ban is the wrong move for Scotland’s schools.
However, the new depute rector of Kelvinside Academy is adamant that an outright ban is only to the detriment of young people.
While pupils at the Glasgow independent school are not permitted to use their phones during the school day, devices are not removed from them.
The system works on trust.
Dr Hay thinks the government is wrongheaded in implementing a complete ban on mobile phones in schools, saying “young people and people in general will find a way around that ban”.
“It will become something that's even more wanted and needed,” Dr Hay added.
“So I think a ban is a very difficult thing, and I know that’s not a popular thing to say.”
Increasing numbers of young people are seeking help for anxiety and mental health issues - the Scottish Parliament’s education committee heard this week that psychological support services are in place from P1.
Mobile phones and the aftermath of the pandemic are both seen as having a crucial negative impact on children.
But Dr Hay said: “Kids are resilient. The effect of those experiences going through covid have probably impacted us and our worry for them more than it's impacted them.”
She does, however, acknowledge that mental health concerns have changed pre and post-covid with a radical shift in parenting also occurring.
The advent of mobile phones and other tech means the dial has “been utterly shifted”.
Her position is that phones are “actually amazing things” and adults have to figure out how to work with them in schools.
“We're not making small humans; we're developing young adults.
“And so we we need to be cognisant of the fact that these small humans will become young adults, and actually, it is unreasonable to bring them up in a model where we're saying they absolutely can't have this, and then go, ‘off you pop’, and they're all going, ‘I don't know how to function’”.
At Kelvinside, phones go into schoolbags at the start of the day and are not allowed back out until the end but are not confiscated.
While Dr Hay refers to this as a “ban”, parents who campaign on the issue describe a ban as being only where the phone is fully removed from the pupil.
If pupils misuse their phone then they are asked to leave it at reception and collect it at the end of the day.
Dr Hay said the school is “cautious” about taking a phone from a pupil but said these situations are a good opportunity for restorative conversations.
She sees it as a strength that pupils might come up with innovative ways to get round a ban.
“I've got past ever worrying about somebody thinking I’m naive - I’ve got total faith in young people.”
The school is also grappling with the use of AI and has developed its Artificial Intelligence At School (AIAS) guidelines.
The school’s rector, Dan Wyatt, explained the system is designed to avoid rigidity and that all teachers have their own positions.
Dr Hay brings more than 30 years of experience to the school, having held teaching, pastoral and leadership positions both in the UK and the US, including George Watson’s College, St Columba’s School, and Edinburgh Academy.
Before becoming a teacher, she studied pharmacology at Aberdeen University and completed a PhD at Strathclyde University, researching drug delivery systems at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.
She began as a biology teacher at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh before moving to North Shore Country Day School near Chicago, where she taught biology and coached field hockey.
On returning to Scotland, she trained as a counsellor.
“For someone to academically achieve, they've got to be in a really good space and place,” she adds.
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