Headteacher tells talkRADIO why he banned mobile phones in his school

A headteacher who has banned mobile phones in his school believes they are killing face-to-face communication. 

Gregg Davies, head of Shiplake College in Henley-on-Thames, spoke to talkRADIO after imposing a new rule whereby anyone caught with a mobile phone between 8:15am and 5:45pm is given a detention.

Davies told Julia Hartley-Brewer he noticed that previously "instead of pupils talking to each other, they were communicating via their mobile phones" and felt that real communication was "beginning to die away."

After the phone ban he noticed that students are now spending double the amount of time in their lunch hall as they are "are sitting and talking to each other."

Whilst not all children have welcomed the move, "parents have been absolutely universally supportive," and know they can still contact pupils through email and landlines.

Listen to the full interview above