Sir, – I am writing in relation to your front-page article “Smartphone pouches plan to stay, says McEntee” (News, February 6th) to clarify a few points about the use of smartphones and the research quoted.
The study looked at schools with a “permissive” phone-use policy versus a “restrictive” phone-use policy. Of the 20 schools with a “restrictive” policy, it has to be noted that only one school (30 participants) used electromagnetic pouches, with most schools allowing students possession of their phone but not allowing use (ie “phones must be kept off inside bags”).
For comparison, research presented to parliament in the UK from the John Wallis Academy in the UK noted that the introduction of electromagnetic pouches in their school resulted in a reduction of detentions by 82 per cent, truancy by 75 per cent and a significant increase in teacher satisfaction (40 per cent versus national average of 20 per cent). Interestingly, given the current staffing problems being faced by schools in this country, the introduction of the pouch policy also resulted in a 12 per cent reduction in staff turnover.
A further study by the London School of Economics in 2015 conducted in four cities in the UK showed an improvement in student performance of 6.41 per cent in schools that introduced a mobile-phone ban. Of note is that this improvement was most noted (14.23 per cent) for low-achieving students compared to high-achieving students. The authors of this report concluded that “banning mobile phones could be a low-cost way for schools to reduce educational inequality”.
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The most significant finding of the University of Birmingham study was the finding that spending more time on a smartphone/social media was associated with greater reported levels of anxiety and depression symptoms, reduced sleep duration, increases in disruptive classroom behaviour, as well as lower attainment scores in English and mathematics.
The authors concluded that their study “provides further evidence of the adverse consequences from increased smartphone and social media use, and that lowering phone and social media use is important” and they advise that their results show “interventions to reduce smartphone/social media use to positively influence adolescent mental wellbeing are plausible”.
As shown, there is overwhelming evidence on the harms caused by excessive smartphone/social media use, specifically by adolescents. While the best policy to combat this is still debated and more research is required, we still need to act now as every individual only gets one childhood. Thus I would say that the issue is not to question the Government’s support of the use of electromagnetic pouches but rather to ask what additional policy measures (additional funding) is to be put in place to tackle this urgent problem both outside as well as inside the school environment. – Yours, etc,
Prof MATTHEW SADLIER,
UCD School of Medicine,
Dublin 7.
Autism and school places
Sir, – Last week, RTÉ radio highlighted the distressing reality faced by many families of autistic children who are without a school place. Mothers spoke openly about their struggles, exposing the deep vulnerability that comes with being denied access to education for their child.
Autistic children, like all children, have a right to an education within a reasonable distance of their home. Yet there are simply not enough suitable places or teachers available. The solution is clear – plan and build more. Instead, we see the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) commissioning a €90,000 research study to explore the factors behind the growing demand for special class and special school places!
Why do we need an expensive research study to confirm what is already painfully obvious to parents? The demand exists because Ireland has failed to invest in adequate provision for autistic children, despite years of warnings. Rather than spending scarce public funds on generalised reports, that money should be directed toward real solutions – building more classrooms, training more teachers, and, if the State cannot meet the demand, funding private providers to step in and provide the necessary facilities.
The continued failure to act means more children left at home, more parents struggling, and more families forced into an exhausting battle for basic educational rights. How much longer must these families wait? – Yours, etc,
Dr KATHLEEN McLOUGHLIN,
Roscrea,
Co Tipperary.
Attending cabinet
Sir, – It can be noted for the record that the first “junior minister” to be permitted to attend Irish cabinet meetings without being a formal member of such a cabinet was Kevin O’Higgins as invited to attend by the then-president of Dáil Éireann Eamon de Valera, while O’Higgins was serving as assistant secretary of state for local government from 1921 to 1922 in the government of the second Dáil.
In explaining to the Dáil in a debate later on January 3rd, 1922, as to how he came to attend cabinet meetings, O’Higgins stated that de Valera instructed him as follows:
“I want you to attend Cabinet meetings and express your views on a position of absolute equality with the rest of us. If, in the unlikely event of a division, you, perhaps, had better not vote, but with the rest of us express your views quite freely.” – Yours, etc,
Cllr JOHN KENNEDY,
(Fine Gael)
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Offices,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Languages and dyslexia
A chara, – Strict criteria set by the Department of Education must be met before a young person qualifies for an exemption from Irish. It was good an Irish Times article acknowledges that: “Beyond anecdotes, there isn’t evidence of the system being abused” (“Irish-language exemptions: ‘It’s all firefighting and band-aids, instead of a sensible approach’”, Education, February 4th).
Therefore, can we please stop blaming young people with dyslexia and other learning difficulties for the systemic issues in how the Irish language is taught and assessed in our schools? Dyslexic individuals do not struggle specifically with Irish but with learning all languages, particularly in developing fluency and accuracy, especially in written form. The exemption from Irish exists to acknowledge the challenges these students face when learning multiple languages, allowing them to focus on one language and develop competence.
All learners should have access to high-quality, structured literacy instruction in Irish, aligned with the science of reading, and additional support from special education teachers (SET) where needed. In most English-medium schools, Irish is not taught using sufficiently detailed phonetic instruction, making it very difficult for many students to achieve proficiency. There is also a lack of learning support in Irish for those who struggle.
These are the real issues that need attention – ensuring all students have the best opportunity to learn, using evidence-based literacy practices. The focus should be on improving language instruction and support, not targeting a minority of students who require exemptions as a necessary accommodation for their learning needs. – Yours, etc,
ROSIE BISSETT,
CEO,
Dyslexia Ireland,
Dublin 2.
Dealing with the ageing process
Sir, – As a senior citizen, I watch with admiration as young people exercise by running and cycling. As for me, I have listed some of the signs I am showing of the ageing process.
At home, I wait until I have more than one reason for climbing the stairs. On the bus, I cling to the yellow bars for balance and never go up the stairs. If the bus is crowded and a younger person offers me a seat, I accept with thanks. When walking, I stay to the inside of the footpath to allow others to pass by. I only look at my phone if it rings or beeps with a message. When crossing the road, I look for a signal-controlled crossing and wait patiently for the green person to light up and the beeps to sound. When crossing the road where there is no pedestrian crossing, I stop, look left and right, usually twice, then cross cautiously, being especially aware that these new-fangled electric cars drive silently. When phoning utility companies I always explain at the beginning of the call that I am a senior with some hearing difficulties and, most times, am treated with courtesy. – Yours, etc,
TONY CORCORAN,
Dublin 14.
Seán Russell and Nazi Germany
Sir, – Eunan O’Halpin makes contentious claims about Irish republicans during the second World War (Letters, February 6th). As an IRA militarist, looking for arms wherever he might get them, Seán Russell went to Moscow in 1926. Strangely, however, his detractors do not link the apolitical Russell with Stalin’s Russia. When Franco handed Frank Ryan over to the German authorities in 1940, Ryan became a virtual prisoner in Nazi Germany. According to the available evidence, the only thing he did “willingly” was to attempt to leave, one way or another. Writing from his prison cell two years later, Brendan Behan concluded that the militarist IRA was “defunct”, and found that most of his fellow IRA prisoners, while “sincere and honest”, had no strong political views. A committed anti-fascist, Behan outlined his support for the Allied war effort and hoped that Britain and the US would ease the pressure on the Soviet Union by attacking the Germans from the west: “I wish they’d start the [second] Front”. He was not alone in the IRA. In the Curragh internment camp, Michael O’Riordan, a Spanish Civil War veteran, argued that republicans should join the British armed forces to defeat Hitler-led fascism. – Yours, etc,
JOHN MULQUEEN,
Dublin 3.
The blue zone centenarian myth
Sir, – In dispelling the myth of blue zones, those parts of the world where salubrious living was postulated to produce longevity, Dr Paddy Barrett provides a useful service in terms of public health education (“Blue zones, where people live to 100, are a lovely idea. It’s a shame they don’t exist”, Opinion & Analysis, February 3rd). It teaches us to question conventional wisdom and to take direct responsibility for our health and wellbeing. It’s worth looking at how the theory was evaluated as a lesson in scientific scepticism and a demonstration of how common sense can be employed to address matters that seem complicated.
Among the areas that were regarded as blue zones were Sardinia in Italy and Okinawa in Japan. In the former, despite claims that there were high numbers of individuals living beyond 105, it was found that they also had, by national standards a very high rate of death occurring at under 55 years old. The area with the lowest probability of reaching 55 was unlikely to have the highest rate of living beyond 105. In Okinawa, analysis of dietary patterns was found to have about the lowest rate of vegetable intake in Japan and very high rates of obesity, while the blue zone diet was proposed to be largely plant-based with special focus on sweet potato. Canned meat and spam (not in the email sense) was found to be very widely consumed there, when direct observation was made. Ultimately this lead to it being clear that the main pattern identifiable in areas with frequent survival beyond 100 years was “pensions fraud”. Associations with local crime and illiteracy rates were also noted, which reflects inaccuracy of birth certificates. Notably, no-one believed to have reached an age of 110 has had a birth certificate in any case found to evaluate. It is established that once birth certificates are introduced in an area the numbers of very elderly people predictably and very dramatically declines. The absurdity of the study in question, conducted by Australian researcher Saul Newman of Oxford University is striking and at times blurs borders between macabre and comical. Tokyo’s oldest man was actually found to be mummified with relatives collecting his pension for over 30 years. Another apparent supercentenarian was regularly celebrating three birthdays. In Japan, it was ultimately acknowledged by government that more than 230,000 of its centenarians could not be found.
I would argue that this is good news. One cannot curse one’s fate in terms of birthplace, and any fault regarding our health span is perhaps “not in our stars but in ourselves”. Life will not be forever, so the imperative to enjoy it is that much stronger. Ultimately the research was awarded an Ignobel prize, that recognition of study findings “that make you laugh and then make you think”. This gives its lead author not just prestige but also a cash prize of some $10 trillion (in Zimbabwean currency).
The myth of blue zones will not vanish easily, as too many vested interests are tied up with it, with lifestyle gurus and peddlers of supplements who must remain adherent to the idea. But for many of a scientific mindset, the real lesson may be the old one: if something sounds too good to be true, then it’s probably false. And to try not to be so easily fooled next time. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.
Remembering Tom Hyland
A chara, – Further to “Tom Hyland obituary: East Timor peace campaigner” (January 18th), among the late Tom Hyland’s many actions in support of East Timor is a fascinating but not widely known intervention that forms a small part of Ireland’s internet history.
The internet service provider Connect Ireland and the East Timor Solidarity Campaign, which he founded, worked together to prevent Indonesia from usurping East Timor’s official internet presence during its illegal occupation. In 1997, with the support of East Timor’s rebel leadership, they secured the .tp country code top-level domain (ccTLD) from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which is responsible for globally allocating unique internet addresses. Connect Ireland hosted the domain on a web server in Dublin and developed a website which became an online focal point for East Timorese resistance. As I reported at the time, the administrative arrangements put in place to secure the domain were unique. The jailed rebel leader Xanana Gusmão – currently East Timor’s prime minister – was named as the official contact for the domain, as IANA’s regulations required an in-country resident. The telephone number included on the official application was that of the military governor of East Timor. A couple of years later, Connect Ireland experienced a hacking attack, which it suspected was coordinated by Indonesia. Some time after gaining independence, East Timor switched its domain to .tl, reflecting its official name as the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. The .tp domain was deleted in 2015. – Is mise,
CORMAC SHERIDAN,
Dublin 7.
Here and there at night
Sir, – Anyone who has frequented cities, towns and villages all over Europe has seen the vibrant life lived in these communities, with families going about their normal activities. This is specially remarkable at night and is in stark contrast to the empty streets in Ireland, where activity usually circles the fast-food establishments and the pubs, often with an intimidating bouncer at the door. Not an inviting prospect for an evening stroll.
My Italian teacher, Chiara, always says that rich Italian families live in the city centre, whereas rich Irish people live in the suburbs! – Yours, etc,
EITHNE O’CALLAGHAN,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.
