A STOCKTON head teacher has hit out at youngsters' excessive use of mobile phones.

Mr Chris Allen said the soaring use of phones was generating more problems for both pupils and teachers. He has appealed to parents to take a sensible line on the issue.

But Mr Allen admitted that trying to put a brake on the problem was "like trying to play King Canute".

Threequarters of children now own a mobile and for others the gadget is top of the gift list. Many pay-as-you-go phones are bought without the need for any identification and often no record is kept of the owner with calls from such phones being virtually untraceable.

Mr Allen, head teacher at Red House school in Norton, was worried this sparked mobile phone bullying.

He advised parents to buy phones which indicated the sender and text message and suggested limiting the number of people who had the number.

"If a child gets a call or message from an unrecognised number, make sure they do not accept it," said Mr Allen.

He thought youngsters were becoming over-reliant on mobile phones.

"It is important students learn to work out problems for themselves," he said. "If they are in constant touch with family or friends via the phone, this can be difficult. In my view children don't need the constant use of mobile phones."

He said the burgeoning use was curbing children's sense of independence.

"Today's children don't have the independence we had as children because of the nature of society," he said. "So we need to do everything we can to allow children to develop their independence and one place that can happen is in the relatively safe environment of the school.

"But if something happens at playtime, instead of dealing with it, the child goes to a corner and phones mum on the mobile. The parents then get involved and we are reducing even further the child's ability to learn to be independent, to work with others and to resolve problems.

"Children need to learn to handle situations and not run to their parents unless it is something really serious."

He said more and more staff time was being spent trying to sort out situations which had arisen as a result of mobile phones.

Theft of phones was also a big problem.

"Sometimes the phone has merely been lost but the child finds it easier to say it has been stolen and huge amounts of time can be taken up with police-style inquiries about the 'theft'," he said.

"Parents sometimes expect teachers to break off lessons to deal with something which has arisen over a phone.

"A teacher's primary role is to teach. But in many cases teachers are spending long hours trying to resolve problems arising from the use of mobiles and this is a drain on valuable teaching time."

Mr Allen said he would not try to ban the phones because he could not enforce such a move.

Also, he accepted, mobile phones could be useful.

But he warned: "Staff are becoming increasingly concerned about getting caught up in issues which are not necessary. I appeal to parents to be sensible about all this."

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