The Big Switch Off – Monday 12th June
Within our Sixth Form Community, we are hosting an annual device detox day known otherwise known as “The Big Switch Off” on Monday 12th June 2023.
On this day we ask all students and staff within our Sixth Form Community to either:
- leave their smartphones at home (preferred option)
- hand them in at the start of the day
- or switch them off and keep them out of sight
It is important for all students to understand that this one-off day should not be viewed as a period of punishment or sanction. Smartphones are now an important and necessary part of everyday life. The primary objective of this day, is give us all a chance to reflect upon our own digital health and to assess our reliance and usage of our devices on a day to day basis.
Within this day we will ask all students to assess the impact upon their productivity, attention span and social interactions, as well as giving them the opportunity to be open about any anxieties that they will also inevitably feel and to recognise why this might be.
- What habits have they fallen into?
- How can they break habits that they are not comfortable with?
For this important experiment to work we require the support and commitment of ALL members of our Sixth Form Community – Staff, Teachers and Parents and Carers – to engage with this day in a positive way and find out about themselves, rather than by undermining the process by trying to use their phone covertly.
Students have been assured that parents will be able to contact them in an emergency via normal school channels. Friends will still be able to physically find them. Life will go on.
We hope that you will support this day in conversations at home both before and after the event.
