DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Two weeks ago I attended JJAMM in Sydney with two of our School Captains, Thanh and Ava. During one of the Leadership workshops the 40 or so Student Leaders from Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and New Zealand were issued a challenge - they had to check their phone screen time for the last 24 hours. Most were surprised by how much screen time they had actually racked up, many were completely shocked. There was a slight feeling of embarrassment as some reported four, six or ten hours on their phones. Some students explained this as their ‘chill’ time, others said that most of that time was accessing study documents, others attributed it to Facetime. The point of the exercise was to challenge the leaders to channel that time into justice actions using social media, however it did bring up an important area of concern, that being the ease at which we can all over use our phones and devices. The Australian Institute of Family Studies reports that Australian children spend more time on screens than is recommended and with only 15% of 12 year olds meeting recommended guidelines. Their research also shows an increase between the ages of 10 - 14 years, particularly among boys. The type of screen time that increased in this age group was gaming for boys and TV, computer use and social networking for girls.

There is strong evidence that for young people aged 5–17 years, screen time may have negative effects on weight and diet (especially from TV viewing) as well as behavioural problems, anxiety, hyperactivity, attention, self-esteem and psychosocial health. We may not find this surprising and perhaps we can disregard it by attributing it to the changing world however there is a lot to be said for trying to reduce screen time and increase our face to face connection with others and the world around us. 

Technology has so much to offer us and can play an important role in our lives however, changes in the way we use technology, even small, can have lasting benefits. This article is a good source of information for all parents. One of the many reasons that St Mary MacKillop College has a mobile phone policy that requires students to leave their phones in their lockers is to provide a learning environment that is free from the constant distraction of notifications and messaging that occurs even if a phone is in silent mode. We appreciate all the families and students who support this policy and we strongly believe that it is in the best interest of our students and their learning.