Shore School: Elite Sydney school BANS boys from bringing laptops to class over porn scandal

One of Sydney’s most elite private schools has banned male students from bringing their own laptops to class after several were caught on online gambling sites, social media or watching pornography.

Shore School – which charges $37,350 a year for Year 12 tuition – initially allowed students to bring their own devices to class for their education under a Bring Your Own Device policy.

But the prestigious, single-sex Anglican college has backflipped and introduced a ban after many boys became increasingly distracted by gambling, porn, social media and streaming sites instead of focusing on their teachers. 

Shore School in North Sydney (pictured) initially permitted students to bring their own devices to class. But the prestigious, single-sex Anglican college has since implemented a ban after many became distracted by gambling, porn and social media

The school’s principal Timothy Petterson listed classroom distraction as one of the main reasons for the policy change and told parents the BYO policy was only ‘sub-optimal to the learning of students.’ 

Teachers conceded at an information night for students last month that issues had arisen since boys at the school started to bring their own devices to class.

Educators referred to behavioural problems in Year 9 specifically with three boys being asked to ‘seek an education elsewhere’ because they did not meet expectations, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. 

A former student who graduated from Shore School last year reportedly penned an article for the school’s newsletter elaborating on just how frequent laptop misuse amongst his peers was. 

‘Students are gambling, gaming, scrolling through social media, watching Netflix, purchasing things on eBay, video conferencing with their friends and viewing pornography all while their teacher is addressing them,’ he said.

‘I am five weeks out from the trial HSC in one of the top classes and this is still happening every single day.’ 

The author wrote that ‘fewer than half of the students in most of my classes are paying full attention to teachers, with most staring blankly at their laptops’.

He recalled how one teacher had to stop his class ‘every 10 minutes’ to tell students to look up and pay attention.

Teachers conceded at an information night for students last month that issues had arisen since boys at the school started to bring their own devices to class

Shore school is currently rolling out a new policy where boys will ‘rent out’ laptops with built-in controls instead of bringing their own devices. Teachers have also been trained to be aware of device misuse in class. (Pictured: A photo taken from the interior of the school) 

The school is currently rolling out a new policy where boys will ‘rent out’ laptops with built-in controls instead of bringing their own devices.

Teachers have also been trained to be aware of device misuse in class.

A spokeswoman for Shore School told the Sydney Morning Herald that the policy to rent-out and use laptops, like many other schools do, was due to ‘changing education and technology environments’.

She said the ‘overwhelming majority of boys’ at Shore adhered to the school’s rules in regards to appropriate laptop use.  

The spokeswoman added that any student not following the laptop guidelines would be subject to ‘disciplinary action’. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Shore for comment,.  

Bring Your Own Device policies, like the one that was initiated at Shore, are common as they allow institutions to wave technology levies that are usually lumped onto school fees.

Private schools usually add these levies as they rent out devices, while public schools often allow students to bring their own computers.