Schools should not be turned into a battleground around potential safety measures, the key figure overseeing child rights in Wales has said. Roccio Cifuentes, Children’s Commissioner for Wales, was speaking after a 14-year-old girl was convicted of the attempted murder of three people during a school stabbing in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, last April. Ms Cifuentes said she agreed with the chief inspector of the Welsh education watchdog, Estyn, about not having a blanket exclusion policy. “Schools have to be a safe space for everyone, pupils and teachers alike,” Ms Cifuentes said. The incident has prompted others to suggest schools should consider searching pupils and employing security guards. Ms Cifuentes said the Ammanford case was “sad and shocking… and thankfully very rare”.
She said the ongoing debate about the use of phones in schools was also an issue she was aware of but that a “whole society approach” was needed. A new report by the University of Birmingham suggested that a ban made very little difference in improving grades or mental wellbeing. But it did suggest spending longer on phones and social media in general was linked to lower grades, poor sleep, disruptive behaviour and a lack of exercise.
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