Colin Matthews

Retired teacher, plays guitar, has 2 cats.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@calvinrobinson There is no tradition of the monarch delivering an Easter message; Queen Elizabeth || didn't. The King did attend the Maunday Thursday service and Their Majesties are scheduled to lead the Royal Family at the Easter Matins Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@AWills1995 @KemiBadenoch Just when I think maybe Reform have something positive to bring to politics I read this insensitive, misjudged post and think, maybe not.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@embradon @glenscrivener @BlackIslePMD The context is given in the video. It is acknowledged the child abuse happens among many different groups and in different ways. She also made it crystal clear that no one should conclude from her experience that all or even the majority of Muslims are complicit in such behaviour

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@BBCBabs_michel So sorry to hear your sad news, Babs & well done for being a true pro & presenting you weekend shows so brilliantly.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@AnikaFreeindeed Sort of the same reason I enjoyed watching the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@Miss_Snuffy @msjhaffey Indeed. Just because someone does things or has opinions you don't like does not mean that everything they think and do is wrong.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@BBCBabs_michel Bless you, Babs. Look after yourself & get well soon.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@Troymajian @nebulousrk @IanVRowe Thanks for the clarification.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@nebulousrk @IanVRowe The defeat of the unions does not directly relate to cell phones; it merely means the school was free to open and so impliment this policy, although initially, the rule was to allow students to carry phones, much like most other schools.

[Ian Rowe @IanVRowe]

A primary source of today’s much discussed mental health “crisis” among young people, is immediate access to mobile devices and the toxic social media apps that typically accompany them.

That’s why each morning at arrival at Vertex Partnership Academies, our virtues-based, public charter high school in the Bronx, each student deposits ALL of their devices (e.g. cell phone, AirPods, smart watch, etc) into his or her personalized Yondr pouch.

That pouch is then locked by the school, and unlocked by the school at the end of the day.  When Vertex defeated the teacher’s union and opened in 2022, we allowed student access to cell phones during the day, trusting that kids would have the self control to turn them off or not use them. In retrospect, a bad move.

When we changed the policy for 2023-24, there was some initial student howling at the beginning of the year. But now, just a few weeks into the school year, it’s incredible how much less drama there is, how much less time students spend in the bathroom, how much less distraction there is and how much less time is spent by teachers futilely policing phones, AirPods, watches, etc that somehow find a way to be used by kids.

But more importantly, it’s incredible how much more focused the students are, and how much more calm the learning environment is. As far as we can tell, the kids not only don’t miss the devices. They also appreciate not having the peer pressure of having to deal with the typical nonsense that social media brings into their lives. We have created an oasis.

We are also teaching them that they can actually survive without the devices every minute of every day. And heaven forbid, they can actually have in person conversations, human to human!

As the great economist Thomas Sowell says, there are no solutions, only tradeoffs. One could argue that there are some limited benefits of allowing cell phone use during the day such as the ability for parents to reach their child or the ability for students to do research.

But if a parent or guardian calls, a school aide can immediately access their child. There are always practical solutions. The benefits of no devices far outweigh allowing any access during the day. These little details are how we are trying to build a strong, academically focused school culture.

Lessons learned from @JonHaidt @tombennett71 @Doug_Lemov @Miss_Snuffy @rpondiscio

For more on the consequences of excessive use of devices and social media by young people: https://t.co/YGN3D4xyPb @AEIeducation

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@BBCBabs_michel So sorry you've had this. Hope you're fighting fit tomorrow morning.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@BBCBabs_michel @BBC3CR @Andyshowbiz @TheOfficialJVS Missed you this morning Babs. Hope you're OK & back in the hot seat tomorrow. (No disrespect to Amy & Kimbo who both did a galant job.)

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@BBCBabs_michel Be yourself Babs. Your New audience will love you.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@Danny_Fullbrook Going to miss you Danny, you've become part of our extended family. Wishing you every success in you journalism. Remember what you've learned from Andy - he's a much better model of balanced interviewing then your colleagues on radio 4 (which is one reason I left then for 3CR.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@TheOfficialJVS @Andyshowbiz And is that a pair of glass eyes you're wearing.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@Andyshowbiz @KimberleyJean99 @BBC3CR Aren't you meant to be standing in the red rectangle when you serve?

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@jj__loves__jj @15gc73 @Miss_Snuffy You were spot on.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@ZeekArkham @jklmnop39 Zeek, I'm glad this tweet is a wind up but c'mon, you really made my heart miss a beat.

[Colin Matthews @cannedhake]

@Miss_Snuffy @MDteach84 I think with the growth of AI, it's going to become increasingly difficult to spot fake from genuine on the Internet. Respect to you for putting this straight.