'That's how it should be!' Parents back decision to ban phones at trust's Black Country schools
Parents are backing a decision by a trust which runs several Black Country secondary schools to ban pupils from using their phones.
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The Ormiston Academies Trust has announced it is bringing in the rules during the school day due to the the "negative impact" on children's mental health brought on by mobile phones.
The new policies will be introduced at eight of the trust's 32 secondary schools this term, with the remaining academies following after liaising with parents.
The trust runs a number of academies in the Black Country including Brownhills Ormiston Academy, Ormiston Forge Academy in Cradley Heath, George Salter Academy in West Bromwich, Ormiston NEW Academy in Wolverhampton, Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy in Oldbury, Ormiston Shelfield Community Academy in Pelsall, Ormiston SWB Academy in Bilston and Wodensborough Ormiston Academy in Wednesbury.
When asked by the Express & Star, the decision was praised by a number of parents who say "that's how it should be" – though some raised concern's over the safety of schoolgoers.
Writing to Facebook, mum Aimee Sidebottom voiced her agreement over the plans and said she hadn't given into the "peer pressure" of giving her daughter a mobile phone.
She wrote: "It should be banned in school time anyway, I thought they were. Kids need phones for safety when starting high school but they don’t need things like social media apps.
