The Know Daily - Wednesday 26 July 2023

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👇 Scroll down to have your say on the great British scone debate - and to be in with the chance of winning Afternoon Tea for two! ☕

A volunteer-built skate park in Birmingham that was under threat from a supermarket expansion and a new housing application has been saved from closure. Bournbrook Skate Park, which was funded entirely by members of the community, is the first DIY project of its type to be given formal skate park status.

📱 A smartphone ban in schools?

A new UN report has called for a global ban on smartphones in schools, warning of a “negative link” between excessive mobile phone use and student performance.

Tell me more.
For the report, Unesco, the UN’s education, science and culture wing, analysed 200 education systems around the world. The agency found evidence “that excessive mobile phone use was linked to reduced educational performance”, reported The Guardian. High levels of screen time were also found to negatively affect a child’s emotional stability.

Unesco warned that excessive use of digital technology in the classroom as a whole - including tablets and laptops, as well as smartphones - “could be distracting, disruptive and result in a detrimental impact on learning”.

Can’t tech be an important learning tool?
While some argue that “smart devices should be considered like computers” and it’s important for children to become tech-literate as part of their studies, Unesco has suggested that the cons of tech in the classroom outweigh the benefits.

In its 2023 Global Education Monitor report, the agency found scant evidence to prove that digital technology inherently added value to education. Instead, it suggested that private education companies - which often aim to sell digital learning products to schools - had a concerning influence on education policy “at the national and international levels”.

Unesco has also pointed out that a global embrace of digital technology in the classroom effectively excludes many poorer people from around the world.

What’s the bigger picture?
One in six countries has banned smartphones in schools, according to Unesco’s analysis. The list includes France and the Netherlands, which announced a ban on smartphones, tablets and smartwatches in Dutch classrooms as recently as this month.

“Students need to be able to concentrate and need to be given the opportunity to study well,” said the education minister in a statement. “Mobile phones are a disturbance, scientific research shows. We need to protect students against this.”

Do you think smartphones should be banned in British schools? Hit reply to this email to share your thoughts.

💤 Putting a price on a good night’s sleep

Sleep tourism is quickly becoming the travel industry’s hottest new trend - here’s why.

Sorry, sleep tourism?
Yep, it’s officially a thing. While staying in a big, comfy bed with crisp white sheets has long been a major draw of any hotel stay, a growing number of high-end establishments are now offering a host of extravagant services aimed at curbing our chronic sleep deprivation.

According to CN Traveller, such services range from “basic-add-ons” (think: pillow menus, sleepy teas and bath salts) to “more comprehensive multi-day programmes guided by specialists and clinicians”.

But why is this now a thing?
Put simply, hotels are looking to cash in on our collective quest for that often-elusive good night’s sleep - and the physical and mental benefits that it brings.

“Travelling halfway across the world and shelling out on an expensive hotel might seem overindulgent for a good night’s sleep,” said Euronews, “but studies have found the pandemic and lockdowns led to a rise in sleep disturbances”.

Indeed, 70% of 13,000 adults surveyed by Philips in 2021 reported at least one new sleep challenge since the start of the pandemic, while a separate 2022 study by Direct Line found that one in seven Brits struggle through on under five hours of sleep a night.

What else is going on?
For some travellers, achieving the ultimate R&R has simply become more important than packing the days full of activities.

“While the rise of sleep tourism may sound ridiculous on the surface, it makes perfect sense when you consider the zeitgeist,” wrote Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi. “We live in incredibly anxious times… Who wants to spend their hard-earned cash going on adrenaline-filled adventure holidays in this climate?”

And if I can’t shell out on a fancy hotel…?
While some establishments may be offering soundproofed, windowless rooms or €50,000 handcrafted beds, the good news is that there are lots of simple things you can do at home to boost your sleep schedule - just check out this guide.

🌡️ European heatwave: Temperatures throughout southern Europe are expected to peak today, exceeding 44C in some areas of Greece. Evacuations from Rhodes are continuing amid the wildfires which are raging in several parts of the island. There is hope that conditions will improve after Thursday.

🏦 Nigel Farage vs. NatWest: Alison Rose, the chief executive of NatWest, has stepped down. The development comes after Rose admitted to leaking information about Nigel Farage’s relationship with Coutts, the NatWest-owned private bank, to the BBC.

📝 Infected Blood Inquiry: The PM is giving evidence today as part of an inquiry established to examine how thousands of NHS patients in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after receiving a blood transfusion or new treatment called factor VIII or IX around 40 years ago.

🚀 Houston, we have a problem: Nasa briefly lost contact with the International Space Station following a power outage on Tuesday, forcing the space agency to rely on backup Russian communication systems for the first time.

💪 Planking power: The best ways to lower blood pressure include strength-training exercises such as wall squats or holding the plank position, new analysis based off trials involving 16,000 people has found. The BBC has some helpful instructions for how to do such exercises.

Trivia answer: A) Experts believe that the mysterious animal caught on film was in fact a boar. But after checking out the video, we reckon we would have been as equally spooked!

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