To be annoyed by total phone ban

Well I guess they won't make the same mistake again, lesson learnt and all that

My teen son does not have a phone, and never has. Initially it was my choice now it's his. He travels all over London, the one time he got into serious difficulties he went into a shop and asked for help - which was forthcoming.

When I was young we were taught to resolve situations by asking strangers for help. I was told to approach a woman with her own children or a member of station staff.
If you won't do that, there is really nothing you can do except check local travel delays.

There's a grammar school near me and that's actually their phone policy now.

Poor kids, what a childhood

My parents had no phone, so no way of contacting them. The world has changed in ways that are detrimental to most of us - to the profit of a few. It's sad we have walked into this, but I don't know a way of walking out again.

Yes we did. But is was a pre-mobile phone world we were living in.

I live in a small town up north.

it is BAFFLING to me that there are 11 year olds commuting all over London by themselves.

Shines a light on how wrapped in cotton wool the kids in my town are 🤯

Children in London and other cities often travel across the city to school and have commutes of up to 90 minutes involving several trains/tube/buses. It's really not uncommon.

Sorry, haven't read the full thread - but could you ask for "dumb" phones to be allowed? ie ones that only can do calls and text and then are turned off & put away in school hours. It seems a reasonable compromise.

The only way you're going to address this is to make it very, very inconvenient for the school to have this policy.

I'd start ringing the school office daily if there are any problems with your DC's transport home and ask them to pass on a message to your DC. I'd also ask your DC to return to school and ask the school office to contact you if they have any issues on the way home.

Encourage other parents to do the same. If the office starts getting dozens of calls daily and being asked to contact students, then it might make the school think twice.

My kid wouldn't get to school without his phone, the bus pass is electronic only 🤷🏼‍♀️

You could try a watch phone? They sell on amazon for 50 and work well. My ds uses that and it basically looks like a watch, but they can text and make calls with it. Plus you can use the locating device on it. So perhaps you could get around it that way.

What about smart watches??

Nothing is having a greater impact on the well being and safety of children than smart phones themselves!

What is their reasoning for the ban?

At my secondary, we had a total phone ban. One day there was an unexpected leak and they had to close the school. The teachers then had to very bashfully ask the students if they had a phone to call their parents on 😂After that phones were allowed (but off, in a bag).

We coped because there were payphones reasonably easily available. Guess what, that is no longer the case.

I've put an Apple Tag in my son's bag.

It's really useful.

My child's school has a ban. Totally ineffective, kids just sneak them in and check their phones a lot. They cause so much disruption. So now they take them off them in the morning and lock them away. But still kids are sneaking them in, pretending they left their phone at home. I hate phones in schools, the disruption alone is unacceptable. That's before getting into the bullying via whatsapp, the viewing of inappropriate content, the non stop distraction, the taking of images without the person's consent, etc etc etc. Only phones I would support in schools would be dumb phones. I simply can't believe that a smart phone does anything but put kids in more harms way (muggers in real.life, God knows what online). I'm sure Sarah Everard and other women who have been attacked had smart phones on them. They are not some sort of shield against predators. Only possible use is to phone if transport from school goes awry. Every other reason parents give just never stands up to scrutiny.

That was a monstrous bus driver, this little boy could have an old fashioned type small mobile for calling or texting his mum in the future.

It sounds unnecessary to be using a metal detector to search bags, do they also search the kids. Could he use a travel type bum bug that sits under his clothes (they thin and normally used for cash)

It's not a question of complaining to the school. It's an issue of a school having a silly rule that impacts on their pupils' lives and safety outside school, and whether that should even be permitted.

Good grief. How did children EVER cope without their own mobile phone?!!!

And how did the PARENTS cope without their children having their own mobile phone?

Utterly batshit! Get a grip @TeleGardenGnome

And as pps have said, surely there is a closer school than one that they have to get to via tube trains. Why does he not get a bus? How far away is this school (in miles?) If this happens a lot, why do you not look for a school closer to home?

YANBU. My autistic, just turned 11 DS has to take the bus to school on his own. I'm currently injured and would never have agreed to this otherwise. I'd be furious if his school took away my only means of checking he's safe.