No phones allowed but others accessing facebook

[AugustRose]

I know I am probably being a bit precious but; DD has just come back from a school trip to France where they were all told there was a strictly no phones allowed.

However, most of the other kids took tablets and iphones (without sims) and were able to access the wifi and get onto facebook and talk to their families. DD doesn't have any of those but if I had known they were going to be allowed access we could have e-mailed. She had to be greatly encouraged to go on this trip as she gets homesick and felt left out that she couldn't talk to us.

The point of the rule of no phones was to have no contact unless in an emergency in which case the staff have all parents details and parents had a mobile number/email for the staff.

Now the rule seems pointless and I'm a bit annoyed about it as it would have been nice to hear how she was getting on - especially as it turns out she was being picked on (not bullied, too strong a word) for the first 3 days until a teacher spoke to the girl in question.

[LittleMissRayofHope]

I would be annoyed. The school(s) need to amend this no phone rule to no wifi enabled gadgets.
My dm was a secondary school teacher and had this trouble.

YANBU to be annoyed but not sure there's anything you can do about it

[KentonArcher]

YANBU - I would feel the same and fail to understand why the teachers would be in the dark about these communications.

[GunShotResidue]

The only possible explanation I can think of is that they are worried about the kids racking up huge mobile bills and the school being held responsible?

But if that is the case they should have clarified that a device without a sim would be ok.

[Mistigri]

How old is your daughter?

The school should probably have made the rules clearer but it doesn't seem like a big deal to me assuming we are talking about older kids. Your DD could have asked to use a friend's device to email if necessary.

My experience of school trips is that even if they take phones they don't use them to phone home. DD (13) has done several overseas trips and I can think myself lucky if I get one text message a week.

[AugustRose]

DD is 13 and neither of us use facebook. The rule was for emergency contact only so I think they should have realised that those with wifi enabled devices would have been able to have contact.

I know it's not a big deal I'm just miffed. I will be speaking to them after easter about the other girl as DD had a bit of a problem with her before they left and I want to make sure it doesn't continue. So I might just mention it then for future trips.