To think all schools should ban the use of smartphones entirely during school day?

"do any other parents agree with me that schools should be made to ban smartphones entirely?"

As a parent and a teacher no I don't. Whilst I don't disagree that kids need protecting from lots of aspects of the internet I don't believe it is my job as a teacher to be the bad guy if you've chosen to be popular with your child and let them have a smart phone . If you feel so strongly then you shouldn't have bought them one. It is virtually impossible to police what children bring into school without some sort of compulsory airport style security on entry. Smart phones are here and they aren't going anywhere, we need to teach and model responsible use of them and the governmentneed to legislate so online platforms have more responsibility to keep kids safe. Give your child an old school mobile, the worst they can do is text their mates....which is no different from when we used to write little notes in class back when I was growing up.

"do any other parents agree with me that schools should be made to ban smartphones entirely?"

As a parent and a teacher no I don't. Whilst I don't disagree that kids need protecting from lots of aspects of the internet I don't believe it is my job as a teacher to be the bad guy if you've chosen to be popular with your child and let them have a smart phone . If you feel so strongly then you shouldn't have bought them one. It is virtually impossible to police what children bring into school without some sort of compulsory airport style security on entry. Smart phones are here and they aren't going anywhere, we need to teach and model responsible use of them and the governmentneed to legislate so online platforms have more responsibility to keep kids safe. Give your child an old school mobile, the worst they can do is text their mates....which is no different from when we used to write little notes in class back when I was growing up.

This is pretty illogical though. Do you think that there shouldn't be laws against stealing because you don't steal? Or that there shouldn't be speed limits because you always drive at a sensible speed? Surely you should want the rules at your children's school to be ones which deal with the problems which exist in the school, not just the problems your own dc are likely to cause? The school experience of your dc, however rule-abiding they are, is affected by the behaviour of other students, and how that behaviour is managed.

If they need to contact a parent, they go to the school office and ask them to call them.

in this thread I am not suggesting that they don’t have them to and from the journey to school. There are a lot of good and bad things about mobile phones. One good thing is they allow us to communicate with our children when they’re out of the house, and to know where they are.

In (my!) ideal world, children would not be allowed smartphones though and brick phones would be needed up until 16. But that’s a bigger picture and in the first instance schools can ban them outright in the school day.

I’ll say it again, children that need smartphones with medical devices would be exempt.

But again, in an ideal world, those children that DO use a monitoring device should be provided one that does not require a smartphone. As a society we need to do better. The technology DOES exist to provide these devices without the internet and the ability to download harmful social media attached. In my opinion, this is what children should be given.

For many, many children who’s parents do not understand or care about the dangers, handing children a smartphone is akin to handing them a stash of porn, a hotline to the school’s worst bullies, a pile of snuff tapes, announcing to the world’s paedophiles where your child is, free access to the worlds most fucked up ideologies (beauty standards, red pill to name a couple in a sea of unlimited possibilities) and making them a target for crime if you’re stupid enough to give your child a very expensive model phone.

On a less alarming, but no less serious level, you are giving them a TV, music player, library and hundreds of other tools that they have on them constantly. Exciting! Except that means that they’re unable to concentrate on anything else, lose sleep and their mental health is directly affected.

Children’s brains simply have not fully developed. They cannot restrict their use. They, can. Not.

Well done if anyone on here’s child can. They are an anomaly.

For the greater good of all children, their development, their mental health and their future, we must work together and do better. Schools are a starting point.

i supply in many many different schools and all of the private ones lock the children’s phones away at 8am and return them at 5.30/6pm. It gets rid of so much trouble. I honestly am astounded that this is not made law in state schools - probably because the government don’t want to fund lockers!

Because there is tech that you can use with smart phones eg quizzes where students log in using their phones (quizlet and Kahoot).

Photography lessons.

Filming things for assignments eg one of my classes (child care) made puppets and then filmed a story about a child going in to hospital.

If you have homework on the board they can photograph it rather than try to copy it down.

Role plays can be filmed for assessments.

It stops being this 'forbidden' thing and becomes apart of their school equipment.

i supply in many many different schools and all of the private ones lock the children’s phones away at 8am and return them at 5.30/6pm. It gets rid of so much trouble. I honestly am astounded that this is not made law in state schools - probably because the government don’t want to fund lockers!

Children with type one diabetes wouldn’t be able to safely attend school.

I take responsibility for my own family, it’s not my job to worry about others. If my child was breaking school rules about phones, I’d take their phone way. Other parents need to do the same.

It’s a parents responsibility and if parents aren’t taking responsibility then that is what needs addressing, along with children’s behaviour and making sure teachers enforce rules consistently. If we ban phones, the problematic kids will disrupt lessons in another way, and if parents and teachers aren’t dealing with that effectively, there are still issues, it just won’t be phones causing them.

My child doesn’t need more rules and discipline because other parents or teachers refuse to do their job properly.

Edited to add that my child’s teachers are great. They apply the rules fairly and consistently and they have a difficult job, I didn’t want to look like I’m bashing teachers as I’m not. So many parents are useless though, they’re not consistent, they don’t have a clue what books their child are reading in English lit let alone know what their child is up to online.

Children with type one diabetes wouldn’t be able to safely attend school.

And herein lies the problem. Every parent who we have to phone up and inform that their little cherub was faffing on their phone is class can’t believe it. ‘They were looking up something inportant.’ ‘They were messaging me.’ Unless you have their phone locked down to a brick during school hours I can guarantee that they will have accessed it at school…and if you have it locked down to a brick then it doesn’t matter if it’s locked away.

The biggest problem is parents!

My kids' school always banned them on site which I thought was great. They allow brick phones for use on the way in or back home. I don't see why all schools don't do that or all smartphones handed in at start of day as some do.

Honestly can't see any downsides to it.