Actor Hugh Grant has gone on a scathing rant about technology in schools as he slammed his children's "pathetic" and "ridiculously posh" schools. The 64-year-old Bridget Jones actor has three children with his wife Anna Eberstein - John Mungo, 12, Lulu, nine, and Blue, seven.
He is also father to two more children Tabitha, 13, and Felix, 11, from his previous relationship with Tinglan Hong. Hugh slammed the "pathetic" rules these "kind of ridiculous posh private schools" have as he focused on their approach towards screen time during an event at Knightsbridge School in London this week.
In his fight against laptops and tablets being in schools, the Hollywood star says he is “another angry parent fighting the eternal, exhausting and depressive battle with children who only want to be on a screen”. He fumed: "They’re the ones saying they’re not going to play outside today because it’s raining, or they can’t go on the climbing frame because it’s windy.
"It’s pathetic — it seems to me that there is space here for a hero school, a set of schools to break the mould." He continued: "The final straw was when the school started saying, with some smugness, 'We give every child a Chromebook, and they do a lot of lessons on their Chromebook, and they do all their homework on their Chromebook,' and you just thought that is the last f*****g thing they need, and the last thing we need."
Peep Show actor Sophie Winkleman was also at the educational event. She slammed students' use of AI, asking, "What is the point" in schools.
"We were sold a dream that technology would revolutionise education, personalise learning and prepare kids for a digital future. Billions of dollars and pounds later, where are we?," she continued. "Test scores are plummeting globally. The increased screen use is damaging children’s health.
"Pupils are resorting to ChatGPT to write their essays, and teachers are employing AI to mark them, which begs the question, what’s the point of school?”
According to a 2023 report by the Department for Education, 98% of teachers use technology in their classrooms. Furthermore, more than 9 in 10 pupils in the UK’s primary and secondary schools use laptops or tablets in their learning.
