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00:00Well, one school in Ashford has been putting that to the test, keeping safe, seeing a five
00:25year low in bullying and harassment since banning phones during school hours.
00:30It comes as the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner's Youth and Parents Surveys show that around
00:35a third of primary and secondary school students have been bullied or picked on online. Our
00:41reporter Kristen Hawthorne went to the John Wallace Academy to see if going offline is
00:45the best way to keep bullies in line.
00:48I actually do like it because for me it helps me and my friends try to communicate more,
00:54we focus more on lessons, I feel like we progress more in lessons.
00:58How much do you use your phone during the day? Well, for the pupils at John Wallace
01:03School in Ashford, they use their phones very little and say that others should do the same.
01:09As part of their uniform, students at this school are given one of these pouches where
01:12at the start of the day they have to put their phone in and lock it where it stays in their
01:16backpack until the end of the day where they can unlock it using one of these magnets that
01:21are dotted around the school and then it opens back up again.
01:25Yeah, it helps me but also others in our class because some people on their phones distract
01:29other students but as a whole community we're able to focus more.
01:34It opened your attention span as well and it gave you more time to focus on lessons
01:38rather than constantly hearing notifications in your bag because you've got that access
01:43to your phone.
01:44Now I can go play sport, I can do stuff like that without being, oh why are you not on
01:48your phone, why are you not responding to my text in lesson.
01:52Usually when you find yourself on your phone for a long period of time you kind of get
01:56distracted and you don't see what's going on around you.
01:59I think it's just made me realise that like the fact that a lot of this information is
02:04also in books.
02:05Once the ban was set in place, teachers at the school maintained to pupils that this
02:09change was not a punishment but rather something they should be excited about.
02:14So initially there was a disbelief, students were kind of a bit shocked, are you really
02:20going to take our phones away from us?
02:24But then when we explained it and we explained that this wasn't a punitive, this wasn't a
02:27punishment, we weren't taking something away, we were actually giving them back childhood,
02:32we were giving them back that ability to have meaningful conversations.
02:36We've introduced this for a year now.
02:37We've seen harmful online abusive behaviour, cyberbullying, that type of behaviour has
02:43reduced by 80%.
02:45But it's not just the pupils that have benefited from the change, as staff retention rates
02:50have seen a 12% reduction since the ban began.
02:53The shift in children's mobile usage, however, goes far beyond just this school.
02:59The crime commissioner for Kent said that it is more important now than ever that we
03:03talk about the problems that social media, smartphones and online bullying are causing
03:08to young people.
03:09We need to support schools in implementing smartphone policies.
03:13Anyone can become attached to checking and using their phone, causing many of us to depend
03:17on them during social situations and for information.
03:20But with phone bans being introduced for the younger generation, this problem could change
03:25in the future.
03:26Kristen Hawthorne, KMTV, Ashford.
03:30Parents are also greatly affected by this issue.
03:32Kristen, let's begin with talking about some of those issues.
03:36What issues have the phone ban at John Wallace Academy helped to sort?
03:40So I spoke to the principal, as you've seen in my package, I spoke to the principal and
03:44four of the students, and they all sort of came from the same perspective that it helped
03:49with a variety of things.
03:50It helped with their focus, they felt that they were able to communicate better with
03:55their friends.
03:57One of the girls told me that they've seen that the boys play football a lot more together.
04:02They told me that because they're having more meaningful conversations in school, that when
04:06they go home they don't feel like they have to text their friends because they've already
04:09had those good conversations.
04:11So they get home, conversate with the people at home, and then the next day they look forward
04:15to having those conversations again.
04:17The principal also told me that in regard to safeguarding issues, we know that there's
04:22a whole variety of things that can happen with phones and children, but they have reduced
04:27a lot as well.
04:28And now why can't they keep their phones in their pocket?
04:32Well when they're in their pockets, there were studies done by Birmingham, and it said
04:36that it has been proven that people that are on their phones longer, it is bad for their
04:42mental health.
04:43At school, it was disproven that there's a connection between not being on your phone
04:47at school and getting better grades.
04:49However, that is when it's in your pocket, whereas at this school it's in a pouch, so
04:55even if it buzzes, they can't open it up, it's in their bag.
04:59So it's a whole different thing really, because if you know it's in your pocket and it's a
05:01habit to have it, you don't really think about it, you just take it out and look at it, don't
05:06That is quite a hard thing to police though, I guess, in a way, and you're also part of
05:14school, and the thing that teachers are trying to teach is independence and having that responsibility.
05:24So that must be quite a hard line to navigate for students as well, and the teachers especially.
05:31Yeah, definitely.
05:32I mean, as well as the people that I spoke to at the school yesterday, I spoke to a woman
05:37from Whitstable Unplugged, who's working on a verbatim play, which means that she's taking
05:43direct quotes from people that she interviewed about this issue.
05:47She went on to tell me that some parents, the parents' response after watching the play,
05:53and here's what she had to say about what the parents said.
05:57I had one woman who came to see the show when we first did our initial performance, and
06:04she said, I feel physically sick, and you know, and that's, it's a shocking response,
06:09but it's important, and as she said, it was vital for her to hear that that's what's going on.
06:14Another woman said she didn't leave her seat in the theatre before changing all the restrictions
06:20on her son's phone, because she realised that she was kind of quite loose about things and
06:24wanted to make sure, actually, it's important to keep our children safe.
06:29Yes, and so looking at the Police and Crime Commissioner's report, I've got it in front of me here.
06:33So it actually says in it, so of those who've been bullied, only 46% of secondary school
06:40students and 57% of primary school students told their parents or guardians, and I know
06:45parents, when they were asked, they actually thought 86% of the adults thought that their
06:51child had told them about the incident.
06:53And so the figures are really drastically different.
06:55And how can we keep safe, and I guess, adults in general, on social media too?
07:01Yeah, well, I mean, it's just, I mean, there's the Online Safety Act that came in recently,
07:08I believe, which has helped some things, but there has been talks of maybe doing the same
07:14sort of thing that's happened in Australia, obviously, with under-16s not being allowed
07:18on social media.
07:21Another sort of side of it is the principal was telling me that parents are quite used
07:24to having a lot of communication with their child during school and all these things because
07:29of COVID and the amount of time spent together.
07:32But since this, it's actually good for the mental health of both the parent and the child
07:37to spend less time on phones and sort of have some time apart, really.
07:41We've only got a few moments left before we go to the break, Kristen, but do you think
07:45something like what you saw at the John Wallace School, is that something that would have
07:49benefited you at school?
07:50Were you quite attached to your phone when you were at school?
07:53I think definitely.
07:54When I was in sixth form or year 12, I would always have my earphones in and I'd listen
08:00to music in class and I would just always be on my phone because I'd be quite easily
08:05distracted.
08:06So I do think something like this would have made me maybe more focused and maybe more
08:10reliant on information that's provided.
08:13Absolutely.
08:14Well, we'll be hearing from you again later on in the show.
08:17We'll be looking at this story again as well, obviously got Matthew Scott on later this
08:21morning.
08:22Kristen, thank you very much.
08:23We're going to go slightly beyond the Kent boundary.
08:28He's going to be talking about space next on the Kent Morning Show.
08:32Yes, not just space though, war, art and Kent.
08:36Do you know what they have in common?
08:37No, I'm sure you're going to tell me though.
08:39Rochester Cathedral.
08:40Brilliant.
08:41Well, that is absolutely correct.
08:42And it's the latest location to receive a national exhibit called Mars, War and Peace.
08:48Yes, it's created by international artist, Luke Jerram, who made Gaia and the Museum
08:55of the Moon.
08:56This project is made up of NASA technology to create a detailed look of the Red Pole.
09:00I don't know if you went down to Rochester Cathedral when the Moon exhibit was there.
09:05It was extraordinary.
09:06It's a scale model of it.
09:08You can see all the craters in it.
09:10For anyone who's been fascinated by space, which I'm sure we all have at some point,
09:15it is incredible.
09:16But the aim of this exhibition is to get the public to think about the impact of conflicts
09:21across the world.
09:22And our reporter, Henry Luck, went to find out more.
09:25It's one of the brightest beams in Earth's sky and the fourth planet away from the sun.
09:32And it's been transported to Rochester Cathedral thanks to NASA technology.
09:37Mars, War and Peace captures the look of the Red Planet with a sound composition by
09:42BAFTA winner, Dan Jones, which fuses seas, deserts and NASA missions on Mars alongside
09:50bombings and war marches.
09:53Did you know that Mars got its name from ancient Romans who named it after their god of war
10:00because the iron upside dust of the planet looks like blood.
10:05The main focus of this exhibit is to get the public to think about the impact of conflict
10:11under the backdrop of a red wasteland and the peaceful environment of a cathedral.
10:17There are so many tragic wars across our planet and so we hope that on the way out and while
10:25they're here people may reflect on that, maybe go and light a candle to remember some place
10:31where there's conflict and to pray for peace.
10:34So we hope people will reflect on that as well.
10:37For us obviously as a Christian church we're very involved in peace, that's the message
10:41that we want to send.
10:42Mars for millennia has been identified with war.
10:48We have lots of conflict in the world, we'd like to draw people's attention to that and
10:52try and encourage people to seek peaceful resolutions to whatever conflicts there are.
10:56Mars is so far away from us and yet we've been able to see it close up so it's quite special.
11:03It's really atmospheric with the music and the kind of sounds that they've got in the
11:08background as well as the lighting in the evening is really special.
11:11I was expecting it to be larger than this and I was expecting it to be redder than this.
11:17Mars is always described as a red planet but it's absolutely incredible to see all the
11:24scars and the craters.
11:27I knew very little about Mars and I'm learning a lot about it so it's a great place, it's
11:33great to have this display and it's a fantastic venue for that as well, it's just such a beautiful
11:39cathedral.
11:40Mars War and Peace will be at Rochester Cathedral until the 8th March.
11:45Henry Luck for Keen TV in Rochester.
12:03Thank you ever so much for joining us at this early hour.
12:10Julie, we're going to start with our main story that we've been going through this morning
12:15about safer internet, precautions, online safety.
12:19I want to focus on the mental health side of things.
12:24This has obviously changed a lot, especially with the advent of social media and how it's
12:28developed in recent years.
12:30What challenges, if any, or from a medical side of things, what have you had to face
12:40with especially young people in this area?
12:43Well, the first thing to say is I have seen young people who have been influenced by things
12:49on the internet.
12:50It can be helpful.
12:52There are forums where people have a history of depression where they actually have very
12:56useful discussions.
12:58However, the problem is there are other sites which promote suicide, which promote a lot
13:04of things like conspiracy theories, which in turn can mean that they get influenced
13:09in a direction which is very much far from helpful.
13:13And I do support some sort of control on social media to make sure that we don't end up with
13:18a situation where we lose more young people to suicide or just general mental health problems.
13:24And there's lots of support online for that, as well as Samaritans, for example.
13:28And what about the sort of physical health aspects of people sitting down and being on
13:33their phones all the time?
13:34I must say, sometimes I just want to relax on my phone instead of going to the gym, for
13:39example.
13:40So what advice do you have for that?
13:42Well, it's interesting.
13:43I had an eye check recently, and there is now an epidemic of dry eyes, which they think
13:49is because people are spending their entire time staring at their phones.
13:52And it's staring.
13:54Your blink rate goes down.
13:55And so that's one of the problems.
13:57There may be a problem with posture as well, because you tend to slump down when you're
14:01looking at your phone.
14:03And again, that's not a natural position to be in.
14:05But again, it's a double edged sword, because I have to say that there are very useful sites
14:10I point people to, to actually help them with physical illness.
14:14But there's also sites which will try and sell you snake oil.
14:18And again, really, we need to be careful that we don't actually point people in the wrong
14:22direction.
14:25We went to Rochester to find out what people thought about weddings, love and marriage.
14:32Marriage is a great thing, and we should do it.
14:34We just haven't got around to it.
14:37We've been married 42 years.
14:3933 this year.
14:41Well, I think the most important thing is to be honest, truthful and loyal.
14:47I think it's a good thing in the long run, when two people are together.
14:50Yeah, I think it's a good thing, marriage.
14:53It's a sign of devotion and commitment.
14:56So yeah, I think it's good.
14:58Not necessary, no.
14:59I just think it's only a piece of paper.
15:01If you love that person, and you're loyal, and you build that trust up as time goes on,
15:08you don't need necessarily to get married to make it any better, I don't think.
15:14It depends on the couple, because I know somebody who was a common-law husband, but
15:21unfortunately their partner passed away, and they were together for years, and they just
15:28were happy as they were.
15:30So it kind of depends on the couple, really.
15:33I think it's a nice thing to do.
15:35That's about it, really.
15:37It's a beautiful thing.
15:39Thoughts from shoppers in Rochester about marriage.
15:43I know that the next chat you've been looking forward to all morning.
15:47Subject very close to your heart.
15:49I'm going to throw it to you for most of these questions now, because you have deadlines
15:54with your wedding, Izzy, so I'm going to hand it over to you.
15:57It's just a dedicated advice for me, and the viewers of Kent watching, obviously.
16:01Hello, welcome to the show, thank you so much for joining us.
16:04So yes, let's start off with a little bit of context.
16:09Yes, I am getting married this year.
16:11Yay!
16:16So I'm getting married in May, so late May.
16:19I feel like I've got a few things, but before I go through some of the things that I've
16:23done, so tell me about sort of what you do as a wedding planner and how people can prepare
16:29for their special day.
16:31Ah, great.
16:32So the Wedding Dolls, we are a wedding planning company, but we moved into day coordination
16:39because what we found is that all couples can make it affordable to have that extra
16:44support and the peace of mind on their wedding day.
16:48So we've worked now bringing our business more so to support lots of couples throughout
16:54the year, rather than just people that had the budget for a full wedding planner.
16:59Okay, yes, because something that I of course think about is how on earth is the day going
17:03to go?
17:04And I guess you want that to be sort of a fun, relaxing time rather than being stressed
17:09about whether certain things are happening, you know, handing off tasks to bridesmaids
17:13and grooms with my help, but having someone on the day.
17:16Yeah, no, it sounds really interesting.
17:18So I have my wedding planner.
17:20I've got a prop today, people.
17:23So I thought I'd go through some of the stuff that I've done.
17:26And if you could tell me whether I'm on track.
17:29Okay.
17:31So let's look through some of the things that I've done.
17:33So I have booked the venue.
17:35We have a venue at this point before the wedding.
17:38I'm glad of that.
17:40Yes, we have a theme.
17:42We've booked the honeymoon at this point.
17:45The only thing I haven't done yet, which I am getting a little bit frightened about,
17:49is that I haven't secured fully my florist yet, which is a bit scary.
17:53How scared should Izzy be, Kathleen?
17:55How scared should I be?
17:57I do think it depends on how important floristry is to you.
18:03And what we talk to with our couples is getting the most important elements
18:07of your day secured firstly.
18:09So as a couple, finding out what's important to you both on the day.
18:14There are lots of amazing florists around Kent, some of them being a May wedding,
18:20you're more likely to secure a florist more easily than what you would
18:25in the height of the summer.
18:27But it is most certainly something I would suggest you move on to quite quickly.
18:32Definitely.
18:33I think that was very diplomatically put there, Kathleen.
18:37That is the only thing I think I'm extremely stressed about.
18:40I've already had the stress of guests, that whole thing.
18:44What advice do you have on people sort of – because I know there could be
18:48a lot of family drama in terms of guests who's invited.
18:52What tips do you have for that?
18:54Definitely.
18:55I think if we were to sit and talk to a couple newly engaged,
18:59the most important message would be it's a celebration of your love.
19:03And don't forget that.
19:05Make sure that you have the day that you want to have.
19:09And factor that in from the start.
19:11It will make all your planning so much more easier when you have a clear vision.
19:16Number two, do not accept the pressures that come with guests,
19:21with having children, and all them other pressures
19:24that some family members might put on.
19:27Lots of families have various things going on.
19:34So I think maybe it's really drilling it back down to you both
19:39and your celebration and making sure that you're going into the wedding
19:43without any of them reservations and feeling confident
19:47in the day that you've planned.
19:50We work with couples to look at it all logistically
19:54so that you get to celebrate the day with all your friends and your family.
19:59And like you mentioned earlier, not relying on your bridal party
20:03or your family to make sure the logistics of the day run correctly
20:09and being present with each other throughout the day.
20:13We are joined by Cameron from the Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent.
20:19Thrilled to announce some really exciting news this March
20:24where five lions are rescued from war-torn Ukraine
20:27will find their forever home at the Big Cat Sanctuary.
20:31Yes, and they're going to be reuniting with someone too.
20:34So Cameron, tell us a little bit more about what's going on.
20:39Yeah, so obviously last year we undertook our biggest rescue to date
20:44which was rescuing five lions from Ukraine.
20:46So you have Una, Rory, Vanda, Amani and Lyra.
20:49And it's just been an absolutely incredible project.
20:52And late last year we were able to rescue them all out of the country
20:55but we only had a space available for Una at the time.
20:58We had a huge fundraising effort where we raised half a million pounds
21:02towards building them their forever home.
21:04And the other four lions have been in Belgium temporarily.
21:07We're pleased to say that the Lion Rescue Centre
21:10is literally only a month away from being finished
21:13and we can welcome the final four lions to be reunited with Una.
21:16That's such a really happy news story.
21:19In terms of lions, obviously we know about their prides
21:24and those documentary images that we see them prowling around in Africa.
21:31How is that work in Smaden?
21:36Will they have that same dynamic?
21:38Do you know the dynamic between all of the lions yet?
21:42So they'll all be living pretty much individually
21:46other than Amani and Lyra, the two sisters.
21:48And that's because all five lions came from the illegal pet trade in Ukraine.
21:53So little Vanda, she was discovered in a flat
21:56and then Vanda was in someone's flat.
22:02Una, sorry, and Amani, Lyra and Rory
22:04are all part of people's gardens and houses and private menageries.
22:08So none of them have actually lived together.
22:10So kind of building them into a pride will be quite difficult
22:13and they all have things that might make it difficult for them to mix as well.
22:19So for example, Una, she has weaknesses with her walking.
22:23She has neurological issues, psychological issues
22:25and that's the same for Rory, the male.
22:27So actually mixing them all into a pride will be difficult
22:30but we've kind of tentatively put in some plans
22:33where we've kind of looked at which lions could coexist together
22:37and live together in like a little mini pride in a way.
22:41And we're just going to take it really slowly.
22:43And when the time comes, we might hopefully be able to mix some of them together.
22:48So the idea will be Vanda and Una could potentially mix
22:53and then Rory, Amani and Lyra could potentially mix.
22:56But that's something that we'll look at over the course of the next year.
23:00And I mean, you speak about sort of the psychological issues
23:03that one of the lions has.
23:05People might not necessarily think that about lions.
23:08So what are lions like and what is their life going to be like here in Kent?
23:13Yeah, so obviously you take Una, for example, and her background.
23:17Now she was suffering from shell shock, concussion.
23:21When she was first discovered, she could barely walk
23:24because she lived on a concrete floor in a tiny cell, about three by three in size.
23:29So she had severe issues.
23:31They were actually potentially going to euthanase her at the time
23:34because she was struggling so much.
23:36But obviously today she is a very happy lioness.
23:40She trusts us completely.
23:54You