To be annoyed by total phone ban

My sons school has the policy that phones must remain in lockers during the day. Any phone outside a locker is confiscated.

But the school enforces the use of several apps themselves. They have the schedule, homework, testsresults, messaging with teachers, everything in an app. So I have mixed feelings about a total ban. It would mean they have to go back to paper, and they won’t do that either.

Of course. It's a small number, and though it will be growing it will never approach being a significant minority.

I am purely pointing out that a total ban is not be possible in these circumstances, nor even a policy of having phones in a bag or a locker and off – the phones need to be on and with the pupil at all times for the tech to work.

That is different, and it will be up to those children who need to have them for medical reasons not to abuse their position.

By far the majority will not need them for medical reasons though.

Well no schools either of my 2 youngest ever attended would have been allowed to have a complete ban. Not because I am a stroppy parent who thinks the rule doesn't apply to my kids but because they used their phones as an essential medical device. Increasing numbers of DCs will be in the same boat over the next few years.

Well that’s exactly what did happen which is why I said that it wasn’t 100% effective 😂

There will be other parents at those schools who will disagree with that.

Many parents are reasonable and accept reasonable rules. Many parents are unreasonable and will complain VERY angrily that the rules are unfair.

Fair point!

And yet people on this thread have mentioned schools that do get it right. Why do you know better than those schools and the people on this thread who are parents of secondary school aged children?

Why would the students who break rules follow that one? I am sure they could find a way to bring phones in if they really wanted to. It just punishes the students who don't break rules and more to the point alienates parents.

I agree with you OP. It's not reasonable, my 11 yo will be going 3 miles on a bus that doesn't take cash from September. He has a physical bus pass but it can't be loaded with a ticket so I will need to buy credit for his bus account in advance and then transfer to his account which he accesses on a phone app. It's frustrating and ridiculous but it means he couldn't manage with those school rules. I totally agree on collecting them in (which is what his primary does) or having a really strict policy on not allowing phones out (his new school approach) but banning them completely is sadly not reasonable given the reliance on them. My son has already been warned that he needs to be super careful not having his phone out as if its confiscated he won't be able to get home or let us know he needs picking up so I'm hoping he'll be really sensible.

The point I'm making is no matter what schools do, they will.be in the wrong.

No phones on school, no phones in class.

That's great and I'm not questioning whether what you're saying is true.

But I know at least five or six secondary schools locally to where I live that do form time at the end of the day rather than after lunch. I'm now aware of one nearby school that does a tutor group/registration lesson immediately after lunch for 15 minutes and (was inspired by the thread to do some checking.)

I zero reason to lie about this. I'm not disputing others' statements so not sure why all this incredulity about mine. This is how the system works at my child's school, and it appears to work well from an overall pastoral point of view as well as from the practicality of the phones question.

If it wouldn't work be because "too many kids think it is their god given right to break the rules" why would a blanket ban be better?

But that won't happen because too many kids think it's their god given right to break the rules and too many parents back them.up.

So what now?

Our school does have form time at the end of the day, and phones are retrieved then.

I don't know of any school that does this, and I've worked in a lot! In most schools, the register done in their first lesson after lunch counts as the afternoon school attendance register.

Yes, that would be fine.

Then, I'm going to say it again, if the children followed the rules, schools would have to have blanket bans and children wouldn't have their phones confiscated.

Here's the perfect solution. If a child has their phone out when they shouldn't it's confiscated until a parent collects it. If being without a phone is such a problem on terms
of safety, don't get your phone out on class.

There I solved it. It just needs the children to pack a small amount of responsibility and for parents to ask their children to take a small amount of responsibility.

We all know secondary school teachers. That doesn't make you an expert on teenagers and certainly not on parenting a teenager. I'm not suggesting there aren't problems with phones but they need to be addressed in a way that doesn't involve making the children unable to contact their parents on their way to or from school. It would be incredibly stressful for most parents if their children had no way of contacting them should there be issues with transport or other problems on their way home from school. Banning phones rather than coming up with another solution would massively alienate most parents.

Interesting that there isn't a single standard approach. I wonder if as more schools address the issue of phones in school, more schools may shift to an end of day model.

Every school I know (across multiple local authorities) that has afternoon form time has it straight after lunch then lessons so at the end of the day they are all in lesson time not together in form.

Interesting, locally all the schools I know of have afternoon registration/form time as well as morning. And I've seen a few people on the phones in schools threads in similar situations.

At any rate, it's what happens at our place, and seems to be working well.

No.
I'm a teacher. I'm actually primary where there are very few problems. However I speak a lot to secondary teachers. There are exasperated at the problems phones are causing in terms of disruption and bullying and stunned at the number of parents who will not entertain any thought that their child as done wrong.

In some cases children have had phones confiscated for filming bullying. The evidence is there on the phone (yes some children are that stupid) the parent then calls the police to accuse the teacher of stealing their child's phone.