“That’s also when schools start to listen because they’re scared of people leaving their schools and losing business”
Hugh Grant. Pic/AFP
Hollywood star Hugh Grant has blasted “pathetic” schools and called for a ban on laptops and tablets in the classroom.
According to The Telegraph newspaper, the actor called for a ban on laptops and tablets in the classroom.
The father-of-five joined the campaign group Close Screens, Open Minds at an event at a school in west London, where he aired his frustrations alongside social psychologist Dr Jonathan Haidt and actress Sophie Winkleman, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
According to The Telegraph newspaper, Grant described himself as “another angry parent fighting the eternal, exhausting and depressive battle with children who only want to be on a screen”.
He went on: “The final straw was when the school started saying, with some smugness, we give every child a Chromebook, and they do a lot of lessons on their Chromebook, and they do all their homework on their Chromebook, and you just thought that is the last thing they need, and the last thing we need.”
Grant, who has five children ranging in age from six to 15, said parents feared “rocking the boat”.
He explained: “I don’t think politicians ever do anything because it’s the right thing to do, even if it’s the right thing to do to protect children. They’ll only do what gets them votes. They only care about their career."
“Therefore, I think the option on this, which is to go after parents, is the right one. Because I think that once you get a critical mass of parents who are outraged by EdTech, as well as all the other issues, the phones, etc, that is when politicians listen because they’re scared of that.
“That’s also when schools start to listen because they’re scared of people leaving their schools and losing business.”
He also blasted the “kind of ridiculous posh private schools” he sends his children to for restricting outdoor play, saying: “They’re the ones saying they’re not going to play outside today because it’s raining, or they can’t go on the climbing frame because it’s windy. It’s pathetic. It seems to me that there is space here for a hero school, a set of schools, to break the mould.”
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