Bristol pupils third worst for using phones on way to school
One in ten say they are not aware of the dangers
Almost 90% of secondary school pupils in Bristol use their phones while walking to school near the road.
According to a study from Churchill Insurance, the city ranked third worst across the country, only doing better than Belfast and Norwich.
The study also found that one in five pupils who walk with their phones in hand have been hit or just narrowly missed by cars.
Dee Elliott, headteacher at Nailsea secondary school, believes that students need to be educated on the use of technology in traffic “to prevent any injury or worse”.
Near her school, several near misses have happened in recent years.
She said their no-phone policy on school grounds is likely playing a role in students feeling the urge “to check their messages” as they are leaving school.
More than half of children get their first phones as they start secondary school and are therefore not only walking a new route to school every day but are also not used to the distraction that phones pose.
Dr Jessamy Hibberd, a clinical psychologist, said: “Younger secondary school children do not combine different sensory information, such as vision and sound, to make sense of the world as adults do”.
That is why she calls for clearer signage around schools to raise pupils’ awareness of the risks that come with crossing the road, such as “bright contrasting colours, simple messages and multiple attention alerts incorporating sound and texture”.
Out of the over 80% of secondary school children that admitted to using their phones when walking near roads, the majority said they were using the device to message (68%), followed by listening to music (59%), making phone calls (49%) and scrolling on social media (45%).
More than two thirds of children said they get so distracted by their phones they often do not notice what is going on around them and almost half of secondary school pupils in England reported having nearly been hit by a car before.
Across the UK, around 1,200 children are injured in traffic within 500 meters (546.8 yards) of a school every month.