The government has made a lot of noise about the impact of technology on young people. So it was surprising, just as students were getting ready to sit their GCSEs, to read that the Department for Education is trialling an app that could signal the demise of the traditional results day. Bridget Phillipson the change would be 鈥渆asier for students, less paperwork for parents, less admin for teachers, and less costly for taxpayers鈥�. According to Schools Week, the change could save 拢30 million a year 鈥� from a schools budget of close to 拢70 billion. For his part, education minister, Stephen Morgan (whose brief includes youth mental health and education 聽technology), it was about 鈥渂ringing exam results into the 21st 肠别苍迟耻谤测鈥�. But should we? A timeless ritual I鈥檝e experienced results days in many ways: my own, in the 80s; my students鈥� over a couple of decades as a college lecturer; and my daughter鈥檚 last summer. I鈥檓 concerned 鈥� and so should ministers be 鈥� about how different these experiences would be if they weren鈥檛 done in person. I was pleased with my results. So was my daughter with hers. Generations apart, we engaged in an easily dismissed ritual, that of thanking our teachers. Has anyone considered the workforce implications of ditching that? Over decades, young people in their thousands have experienced a genuine coming-of-age moment. Forty years on, I still remember how teachers treated me with a new level of respect. Throughout my career, I endeavoured to pay that forward. And it鈥檚 not just about sharing in the joy and excitement of our successful students. Behind the local newspaper front pages of teens jumping for joy, there are those who don鈥檛 get the results they were hoping for, and those who knew exactly what was coming but now face the reality of its consequences. Once the erosion begins, it will be hard to stop I remember one student in particular, who broke down when she received her grades. I can鈥檛 imagine how she would have coped if my colleagues and I had not been there to offer support and guidance. That too, is part of the ritual of results day. A 鈥榗hat function鈥� in an app can perhaps replace but never match what physical presence offers. And that鈥檚 without mentioning the logistics of appealing questionable results and adapting plans for progression. Technology can perhaps speed that up, but the judgment of professionals who know their students is vital in providing support (and filtering demand). A community affair When my daughter collected her GCSE results from school, we went with her as a family. We stayed in the car as she went in, but being part of that special day and then sharing it with the school staff and her friends is a moment none of us will forget. I asked her about this app idea, and she baulked at it. 鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 be the same,鈥� she said, going on to talk about the importance of that final chance to be together as a year group, to celebrate together and comfort each other. One of her friends was present when we were talking. He added that he felt the physical, in-person results day had given him a sense of purpose, reassurance and confidence to face the moment. Proponents of this change miss so much of what is significant about collecting your exam results together at your school or college. This is a classic case of 鈥榡ust because you can doesn鈥檛 mean you should鈥�. Yes, this is a trial, but my worry is that a review of this pilot will look for evidence to support its wider roll-out. And yes, schools will still be allowed to offer face-to-face results days, but once the erosion begins, it will be hard to stop 鈥� and it will be fastest in the poorest schools. We will be robbing the most disadvantaged students of yet another school experience their better-off peers take for granted. And we will be robbing all those who experienced Covid closures of another 鈥榬ite of passage鈥�. In the meantime, it will be hard to take ministers seriously in their efforts to reclaim childhood from the grip of technological 鈥榩rogress鈥�.