A private school in Queensland has taken a stand against bullying with a controversial policy that gives the principal the right to search students’ mobile phones.
“The principal has the right to peruse and copy the content of any phone brought onto College grounds, in order to ensure the safety and welfare of all students,” Kimberley College’s website states.
Principal Paul Thomson told Mamamia he didn’t think the measures were an invasion of privacy, despite the move being at odds with state school policy.
“They come to me. I never walk up to a kid and say – ‘all right get your phone out of the classroom’ -and have a look at it. I’ve got better things to do with my time,” he said.
“But sometimes I have to. Kids might come to me and say – ‘a kid is looking at pornography on the way home on the bus’ – so I say to that kid – ‘go and get your phone I want to have a look at it’. That’s my duty of care.”
This school head says mobile phones are “poisonous weapons in kids’ hands”.
“The two concerns I have are pornography and bullying. We don’t have many problems with pornography, bullying is the big issue,” said Mr Thomson.
Kimberley College currently has around 300 students on its waiting list, and Mr Thomson says many parents “lining up” to enrol their children after bullying incidents at other schools.
We speak to a principal whose policy allows him to look at a student’s mobile if they’re bullying #TheProjectTV https://t.co/OEIE2w29QN
— #TheProjectTV (@theprojecttv) 1 September 2016