No phone for secondary school

Mine went to school by train. It was mainly used to explain why they hadn’t arrived at school. Or arrived home. In fact I think South Eastern should have paid my bill!

Our school (grammar) uses phones in class for research - they don’t have a class computer or books. Teachers tell them to research xxxx on their phone. They also use it to access timetables (no printed copies given) emails about teacher absences and homework app. We realised in week 2 of year 7 that DS needed a phone with internet access simply to do the bare minimum at school.

I bought mine phones in year 6, so I could leave them alone with a way of contacting me. They are pay as you go, so they can only text or call when outside. They can only connect to the WiFi at home or in secondary school. It works well for us. It's useful. If my eldest is running late after school, she can message me to let me know. Also if she's having a bad day, she can message me to vent. It makes her feel better. My eldest also uses hers to access her time table and online homework.

What if they use it for homework and other school use? Timetables etc?

The cold hard truth is that children will probably be disadvantaged if they don't get schooled up on new technology. They will have less interaction with their peers. Good on you though if you think a Mumsnet thread will reset the next generation's trajectory.

My kids don't have phones at school . 14 year old did take hers but I stopped allowing it when I realised she spent alot of time taking selfies and messaging others while in class.her grades and concentration improved alot so she won't be getting it back during school hours until she finishes year 11. They also leave them downstairs on a night at a certain time to stop distractions

There's no point in taking it to school it's locked away when they are in class and if they are found using it during the school day it is confiscated for a week in my sons school (year 9). He doesn't even take his to school. There's no point as it's just a risk If someone decides they are going to steal it on the way to or from school. Plus there's a chance if being hit by a car as they are like bloody zombies when they are looking at them and walking.

My daughter walked home alone since y5 I needed to know she could contact me should anything happen. At that point she's had my old phone. She's just had her first new phone for her 12th birthday but it's nothing flashy. She travels on school bus or has to walk most of the way alone as none of her friends walk this way. She uses phone to ask me if she can go to friends house for example or stay in the park after school. She has no social media and we use family link to control her usage. She knows not to take her phone out at school.

Firstly, don’t make your kid the odd one out, which they will be if they go to secondary without a smart phone. Fitting in and finding your tribe in secondary school is hard enough. Also, school will use homework apps, attendance, communication and reward/behaviour apps. You can use Find My Phone etc to see their location, it’s worrying when a kid uses buses, long walk, etc initially. Phones can be used for payment instead of cash.

This technology is here to stay. Embrace it and use parental controls to avoid incorrect & over use.

I think the vast majority of dc have a phone at that age and a lot of their socialising takes place online. I have no desire for my dc to be left out or not able to participate with normal peer activities.

I don't ascribe to the idea that restricting phones into the teen years is any sort of parenting virtue. We live in the world we live in. Phones are a part of our society.

My dd just has a text/call sim. No data.

Some parents at the school have tried to organise meetings for the smartphone free childhood thing which works by trying to get a whole year group to commit to not giving their children phones.

It does concern me because smartphones are an accessibility aid for some children, eg children with a visual impairment. It doesn’t really seem right that their parents are having to justify why they let their child use one and it’s like they’re letting the side down.

Parents need to stop being such sheeple and stop buying phones if they disagree with them then.

You can have a brick phone if you need to contact someone.

It doesn't work like that.

There are no advantages to giving an 11 year old a phone vs a 14 year old a phone.

But I can think of plenty of disadvantages.

For the porn thing i mean.

Why just phones? Why not tablets, computers,laptops , hell even tvs?

If your kid has a phone they will see porn - if your kid doesn’t have a phone they will still see porn because the kids that do have phones will show them. Giving young kids a device that has access to pretty much everything in the world is madness. They will absolutely use it to see stuff they shouldn’t.
A very innocent 12 year old girl, without a phone, was shown hardcore images by other kids with phones while just visiting the school bathroom.
They use them to bully each other. Taking photos under bathroom doors, in the gym changing rooms, and sharing on Snapchat - they are used as tools by bullies. Your child might have safety features on their own phone and they may use it wisely but some of their classmates won’t, and your child will be affected by this.
I think schools should have a rule that phones are strictly kept in bags during school hours unless the phone is needed for medical reasons.

I completely disagree with the need for kids to have phones. But... a few things, not having one is definitely not cool or whatever they say nowdays, the second point is ease of contact for parents, on their way home if they have a longer journey or do late sports clubs. My son has a phone, he is year y and not allowed it for school and he has one of our old ones for a while until I got him a new iphone 11 for a birthday present, but I did get a hefty discount due to knowing someone who worked for the provider. He still thinks he should be having the latest iphone out. For cotext my phone is a 5 year old weird brand as I think iphones are overated.

We already pay for education, we should not have to add funds because the government are useless and not prioritising our children. Extra money for the school should be for extras like great trips or special art supplies not pens! Which actually secondary don't supply stationary anyway!

To be honest, I'm 33 and I had a phone as soon as I went to secondary school as did 90% of my year group, it's my a new thing. We scrolled MySpace and bebo endlessly, as well as MSN. We played games on our phones and spent hours texting.
Kids have smart phones to blend in and not get picked on. You give your kid a brick and they will probably get bullied for it.
My 13 year old has a decent smart phone, not the latest one but a decent one. Also means I can be sure of his location with the family app on it too. And yes we didn't have that and I survived, but I also got up to a lot of no good because my parents couldn't tell were I was.

My eldest got a smartphone just before starting year 7. ( second hand reconditioned)
His homework and timetable is on an app, there’s different apps for different subjects too, with links to resources and articles when he has to do assignments.
As pp have mentioned, they arrange to meet up on group whatsapp at weekends and holidays too.
He has a 30 minute walk to get to school and I can track him and see he’s arrived safely.
I can’t say I’ve noticed the kids walking back from school using phones, just chatting in groups or cycling along.
All of his friends have phones too.