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Original poster

To be annoyed by total phone ban

710 replies

TeleGardenGnome · 09/05/2024 07:25

My child's school which is a busy city location has a total phone ban. So you aren't allowed to take any type of phone to school at all even if it stays hidden in a bag and is on silent and never used. They do bag searches and use metal detectors to find students breaking the rules.

If your child's phone is found they get a detention and you can only get it back by visiting the school in person.

So yesterday my child's phone was found in a bag search and removed. There were awful transport issues and it took them several hours to get home. In the meanwhile we had no way to contact each other.

I can't get the phone back due to work and my husband being away for work. It just stresses me out that he won't be able to get in touch if there's a problem. Expressing my feelings here as there is no point complaining to the school. They don't listen to parental feedback.

OP posts:
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12
Jeannne92 · 09/05/2024 10:54

Move your child to a school with policies you agree with.

Or suggest to the school that they have lockers or similar for students to leave phones at the start of the school day and pick up at the end of day, but not access during the day. However they may well reply that they don't have anyone to staff this, plus also perhaps no space/no money for such lockerd.

PixellatedPixie · 09/05/2024 10:54

Our school is also in London and most kids take a public bus or cycle or walk to get there. There is a very strict ban on phone use during the school day but they all have Yonder pouches which are locked at the beginning of the day and then unlocked at home time. It’s a pouch that can only be opened with a special magnet that the school receptionist has.

Allfur · 09/05/2024 10:53

CharlotteBog · 09/05/2024 10:43

It's not unusual in rural areas.

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Op is in london

Allfur · 09/05/2024 10:53

User135644 · 09/05/2024 09:14

Safeguarding was also sub-standard for donkeys years.

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Was it?!

Spywoman · 09/05/2024 10:51

I would be fine with a phone ban during school hours but would not be at all happy with a phone ban outside school hours, so they should have some kind of storage for phones or strict rules if phones are produced during the school day.

RisingMist · 09/05/2024 10:48

YANBU. My child's school has a policy (strictly enforced) of allowing phones as long as they are never seen or heard at any time on school premises e.g. switched off in the bottom of bags. It works well. They have occasionally been allowed to take their phones out to text parents and let them know when a return from a school trip has been delayed by traffic, which has been useful.

Mobile phones can actually give children more independence. My DD takes her self off to various after school activities before coming home, and I can easily keep track of her whereabouts and help if there are any problems or changes of plans. I'd be less happy for her to do this if she didn't have a mobile.

SamuelDJackson · 09/05/2024 10:47

My sons school has a system where phones are switched off and placed in a box on the teachers desk, and collected at the end of the day? (His teacher was very amused when he was pranked by one pupil putting an old style calculator in to see if he noticed). But not practical in a UK school where you move between classes.
What about having some sort of locker system allowing kids with long commutes to place their phones in a safebox in the office and collect them at home time?
Or a Nokia Brick rule - where if you needed to have a phone during your school day a basic cheap phone that texts and calls but has no internet/smartphone/camera features, turned off in the bag during the day would be allowed?

CharlotteBog · 09/05/2024 10:43

Allfur · 09/05/2024 10:39

I wouldn't choose a school with such a long commute in the first place

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It's not unusual in rural areas.

bluecomputerscreen · 09/05/2024 10:42

crumbpet · 09/05/2024 10:30

Did you choose to send your child to that school?

oh ffs there is always someone...

as if there is a choice in which school is allocated to the child.

Epidote · 09/05/2024 10:42

I understand both points of view, but I think they kids should be able to communicate with their parents at some point just in case. It is not like there are street phones anymore.

Littlestminnow · 09/05/2024 10:40

Simple solution would be for schools to allow those cheap, non-smartphone mobiles which do calls/texts but you can't access the internet. That way they're still contactable in an emergency.

bluecomputerscreen · 09/05/2024 10:39

our school had many discussions and consultations on this.

in the end phones are not allowed to be switched on at all on school grounds and have to be stored in the child's locker.
other devices used in school (tablets, laptop) have to be wifi only (no sim) and only the school's communication app can be installed.

school does random spot checks.

seems to be working well so far.

Allfur · 09/05/2024 10:39

WhiteLily1 · 09/05/2024 08:27

Literally the only people who will be saying kids don’t need phones to get to and from long journeys to school are those that don’t currently have kids going on long journeys to school. Absolutely no way any of my kids would be making their 1 hour journeys with no way to contact me if there was a problem. They had just turned 11 when they started.

I wouldn't choose a school with such a long commute in the first place

Needanewname42 · 09/05/2024 10:38

@penjil technically most phones probably don't belong to the children. If they are on a contract it will be the parents who are paying for it.

pontipinemum · 09/05/2024 10:33

I understand why they want no phone but it's not reasonable in this day in age.

We had mobiles when I was in secondary, well a few had them in primary but not everyone. One things though the pay phone in the school was still connected so I could call home if something changed.

I'm not sure if they allowed but maybe take the phone off a child for 24 hours if they are caught with it? Turned off in their bag, but I know they will all turn them on!

Original poster
TeleGardenGnome · 09/05/2024 10:30

I would be happy with a phone switched off and in bag policy. If the phone is seen or heard it is confiscated. But that isn't the policy. They proactively search the children's bags for phones. A lot of children are doing long journeys across London.

OP posts:
crumbpet · 09/05/2024 10:30

Did you choose to send your child to that school?

Riversideandrelax · 09/05/2024 10:29

Commonhousewitch · 09/05/2024 09:21

The argument isn't that it was better in the old days- just that being able to be in contact 24/7 isn't necessary and that children have managed long journeys home with delays without needing to communicate with their parents ; we are all used to instant responses all get stressed now if our partners /friends don't respond to texts - even when there is nothing actually urgent -it probably accounts for more stress than they mitigate...

That said the ban seems unnecessary- is there any PTA way of approaching school

Yondr pouches lasted about an hour at my son's school before the kids worked out how to open them ..total waste of money. School just bans phones being out during the day and actually enforces it.

But actually not everyone did manage. DC with autism etc. They were just isolated. New technology/ideas has made things more inclusive, which I believe is a good thing. As well as of course making it safer which I wouldn't want to go back on either.

ButterCrackers · 09/05/2024 10:29

Get the school to agree to a text only phone. Kids travelling need to contact their parents etc when there are travel problems. If they say no what about a hiking tracker that has text messages via satellite. It would cost but it’s not a phone as it doesn’t have a SIM card or connection to the mobile network or the internet via wifi/mobile. I have such a device for when I’m out of range on a daily basis of the mobile network in case of emergency.

penjil · 09/05/2024 10:28

I don't think it's right that a school can confiscate someone's personal property.

With a young child, the phone may not even belong to them, but to the parent.

If only schools concentrated on education and not draconian rules. Keeping a phone switched off and in your bag during school hours is fine.

Riversideandrelax · 09/05/2024 10:26

leaflywren · 09/05/2024 10:09

I honestly feel like this raises new safeguarding / safety issues. Some kids may have to get the bus to/from school from afar. If the bus breaks down, there's a traffic accident or otherwise kids should be able to communicate this to their parents. Or if something happens to the kid on the way home e.g. wants to pop to a mate's house, falls over and has an accident etc, the kid should be able to reach their parents. It's the 21st century FGS. I am totally against use of phones throughout the school day, so if teachers collect them and hand them out again later that should be an easy solution. But the unnecessary hassle of a total ban is ridiculous. I would be raising this with the governors.

Edited

I think handing them in works at Primary but at Secondary they do classes in different groups. At my DD's school her form are made up of DC in her house - she doesn't ever have classes with that group. They just keep them turned off in their bags and it works fine.

LondonPapa · 09/05/2024 10:26

TeleGardenGnome · 09/05/2024 07:50

No they have no way of working around it. You can apply to the headmaster for special permission which I did and was turned down. So my child has just been hiding their phone but was caught out yesterday. If I buy them a brick then they will get a 2 hour detention if caught again and now they have been caught they may be extra checks. A lot of parents use air tags but I don't have an apple phone. Maybe I will need to buy one. Its all a bit crazy.

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While AirTags are the best. Tile is very good too and works across iPhones and Androids. Give that a shot before buying an iPhone for AirTags.

Randomthought · 09/05/2024 10:21

Well this is disgraceful for young females health and safety. And boys too.

One of the girls in my secondary was abducted and murdered.

Her phone didn’t save her but it might have saved others as sadly after that many would be approached asking students to get in the car. Happened to me twice so not just a rumour.

Needanewname42 · 09/05/2024 10:19

Do people honestly think parents would by smart phones if their wasn't a need for them?

WhiteLily1 · 09/05/2024 10:15

GettingStuffed · 09/05/2024 09:10

We managed without phones for donkeys years.
This just indicates how reliance on technology infantilise children.

The things you had to help you if there was a problem back then are now gone! Kids don’t have any of the same resources such as printed time tables, pay phones or even a helpful adult in most cases as everyone is too busy with headphones in head down in their own phone to notice and most people are far more suspicious of strangers now than they were 40 years ago.
Everything is run with the assumption that you have a smart phone to hand.
How can you not realise this in 2024?