Swiped - The school that banned mobile phones

Which is why I said we need to educate kids (and parents) on safe phone use. Not just give them one and tell them to crack on, but to teach them how to set parental controls, time limiters, and teach kids what to watch out for and how do deal with it.

with sex and porn it’s also been shown that telling kids to abstain, end of, doesn’t work. Children who receive sex education have lower teen pregnancy rates, and I would hope teaching them that porn does not equal loving sex empowers them to say no to what boys may have seen and try to get them to do. Nearly every school in the Uk has sex and phse education from primary age, we don’t just tell them “no”.

alcohol the same. We don’t have an outright ban on drinking under 18. Children are legally allowed to drink alcohol much younger in certain contexts. Many parents choose to let teens have a wine or beer at home so they can test their limits, and are less likely to go out on their 18th birthday and get dangerously drunk.

it’s gradual introduction and education on the dangers we need, not just a ban. That’s avoiding the problem.

I know there is an element of truth to this but it's completely defeatist thinking. We have to ban and censor and limit all sorts of things that aren't good for teens - drugs, alcohol, porn being obvious ones. Of course they push back- some more than others but we can't just say 'I know you'll drink alcohol anyway so here's a bottle of scotch' any more than we should be giving them unlimited phone use

That's it.. so many of us are feeling the same. It us crazy to think we are giving something to our children that in our hearts we don't want to give them and that we know will be more negative than positive for them. There's probably no other similar scenario where as parents we are doing what we think is not best for our children.

I watched it. Nothing surprised me. (Police officer) but it is shocking isn't it.

I think in 100 years time we'll look back at this the way we view Victorian children going up chimneys now.

What’s app is one of the worst. Especially when they make groups to bully each other, send pictures etc.

there’s no restrictions on age and what they can send, and if it does come down to evidence it’s end to end encrypted so unless you’ve screen shot there’s no proof. Because of the encryption not even WhatsApp can see what’s being sent so they can’t do anything or pick up any offences.

TikTok, Snapchat and instagram are much better communication apps imo. There is at least a level of monitoring by the platforms who will report anything illegal to the relevant country’s authorities.

We are transitioning our tween kids to the pinwheel phones - they look like smart phones but are not. We have added WhatsApp (which I think is ok as long as you are regularly reading messages and checking contacts) but they don’t have internet browsers and apps like tik tok are completely blocked. Early days and set up has not been easy but I think these could be the answer

We have tried different parental controls on smart phones and none are bullet proof (and are incredibly difficult to set up and use, are not consistent but bizarrely quite easy for tech savvy kids to crack)

I'm at a distance though, so knowing when carer has been in etc is very helpful. Mum receives a paper schedule and an online one, but the real time app is very good.

I was really shocked at how late these children were staying up, well into the night. I can't imagine they were effectively managing to participate in school the next day.

On another issue, I attended a training course recently about lithium batteries and it was mentioned how many people (children especially) charge their phones under their pillows. Battery heats up/fire risk increases. Children hiding their phones from their parents, under pillows. Terrifying.

@chaosmaker I do find the app for my mum's caters really helpful. I can see the schedule, and the visit notes. In particular I can see when a visit is in progress so I know not to phone.

It does seem to be the things like Instagram and TicTok, plus large group chats that are the big issue for teens.

Oh and her school doesn't allow them out at all.

There is a middle ground. My DD (13) has a smart phone, she is allowed WhatsApp to communicate with friends, but it is checked 3 x a week - and it IS checked. She isn't allowed any form of social media ie TikTok, Insta, FB etc. Her phone content is age restricted and she is only allowed to access certain list of websites - she wants to get on a different one then she asks. All apps have to be approved by me.
Her tv is also controlled via our phones - we can cut the internet off to it much to her horror and again its age restricted.
No devices allowed upstairs after 9 pm (bedtime + wind down reading time). Limited time on it.
And she gets plenty of fresh air etc.

They have their good points - life 360 is brilliant, we also have family WhatsApps etc and I see no harm in her chatting to her friends. Just need limiting and parenting!

Its difficult. We replaced our teens phone with a a dumb phone for a few months when he made some stupid choices with it. We have it back eventually as he was becoming isolated from his friends. All.communicatiin, meet ups etc. happens via whatsapp. Even when he was able to meet up with them, he wasn't wanting to because they all sit around on phones and he couldn't.

All their school info, communication and homework is also online now.

I am totally in favour of kids having no or very limited access to a lot of the internet but it needs legislation to make this happen. The companies running sites like snapchat and tiktok could prevent access if they wanted to. The simple fact is they dont want to. They want to make money.

We'd all be better off without them I think but they are insidiously woven into our lives now.

I think the same. We know how addictive they are for adults, what hope have children got? It makes me feel really sad somehow, I can't just roll with it.

But how do you get your paper ticket, out of thin air?

From the ticket window, as I always have done. When it's open, that is.

Sorry just to chime in here - I'm against really young kids having screens too, but screens do not cause autism or ADHD or sensory processing disorder etc.

Early and prolonged screen use affects white matter in the brain (which impacts cognitive skills, language, and literacy) and there's also evidence it disrupts neurotransmitter balance. It's linked to the development of autistic-like traits in children which are "virtually indistinguishable" from idiopathic autism, and there's a strong correlation - the more screen exposure there is, the higher the risk of these traits developing.

No one is saying all children that have autism or adhd have been neglected/given screens and that's how it was caused. We know that isn't the case, but the problem is it looks like autism-like traits are being induced by parents in children through parenting choices, and it's not easily possible to tell which cohort is which.

Yes, it's 'only' correlation that has been found so far, but it's still very worrying that the link is so clear. We hear so much about the risks of SM etc but comparatively little about the developmental risks of sitting a baby in front of screens.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10442849/

So you're saying other peoples choice to use echnology is slowing you down? But how do you get your paper ticket, out of thin air?

Agree they are detrimental. DS had to get one at 16 as it was no longer viable to do life without (decided by him, we would have let him have one earlier). This was helped by the fact they are strictly banned at his school.
We'd all be better off without them I think but they are insidiously woven into our lives now.

I really miss the freedom of being out/occupied and not there to answer the phone

Just turn it off? I do.

things they should be doing at 12 like playing and socialising in person.

Socialising out of school would almost only ever be with us adults & siblings, then, since their mates took bus to school, otherwise lived far away from our home.

You also have to look at it from the angle of banning them makes them more attractive

Lots of things are banned if you're a child. Should we give them cigarettes, bottle of vodka and a motorbike?

Phone app is quick and easy, no waste paper.

Not always quick and easy. I frequently travel by train to a university city. Always a crowd at the exit with students waving their phones at the ticket barriers, and those of us with paper tickets standing and waiting.

Phone app is quick and easy, no waste paper... takes less driver time.

Why do you miss the freedom? If I'm out walking, my phone is on silent. It is a tool... for me.