Page 5 | To think all schools should ban the use of smartphones entirely during school day?

90sseemedsomucheasier · 2025-03-20T12:52:34+00:00

I would welcome a ban on smartphones in my child’s secondary school. At present, in my child’s school they are allowed to take them in, but the rule is that they are to be kept at in their bags and not be seen at all. I think they get a couple of behaviour points if seen, and if seen for a third time then it is confiscated. I know that, had smartphones existed when I was in school, I would have been a master a checking it without getting caught. I would have been on social media, messaging my friends, secretly listening to music with one AirPod under my hair, looking up answers to questions I didn’t know. I’d have never got in trouble because I would have been stealth like in my use of it. But it would have distracted me, it would have called out to me all day. I’d be waiting for my next check of it and thinking about it. I would therefore not have worked as hard, or chatted to friends as much. It would have fed me a horrible narrative about what I should look like, what my life should be like, how everyone appeared better than me and I’d be full of anxiety and not feel good enough. This is what is happening to our children today. They don’t have the strength to stay away from them - they may not be seen doing it but they are constantly on them. Even the best behaved kids. Even if teachers do notice a child having a quick look at their phone, they’ve got so much other stuff to do with the demands of their job - are they going to challenge the child and make more work for themselves or are they going to pretend they haven’t seen it. Children take secret photos and videos and send them to one another to ridicule and bully. Inappropriate contest is airdropped and shared via WhatsApp groups. As a parent, I am on it with internet safety (as is dh). We use parental control tools and my year 7 child is not allowed social media,free access to the internet and we monitor their use of their phone each evening. There are screen time limits and phone switches of at 7pm and is not allowed in bedroom. I often feel like we are going against the grain in doing this. I feel alone and like other parents don’t see the issue with handing our children a device where they can access ANYTHING and absolutely will access anything because they are naturally curious. Curiosity is normal, but the level of information, the horrors, the ideologies and the algorithms that form as a result are not. They are extremely damaging. I know, when I look online (I know, the irony) that there are other parents that feel the same way. But it is hard in real life. When you’re child goes to secondary school and makes new friends who went to a different primary you have no idea what their parents, and their parenting choices, are like. Whilst I know my child is safe online in my home, I don’t know when I send them out to school. They can be exposed to all sorts of horrors / porn / ideologies because other parents send their child to school with unrestricted smartphones, whether that is because they don’t understand the dangers, or simply do not care. do any other parents agree with me that schools should be made to ban smartphones entirely? And by ban I mean asking students to hand them in - either a locker or a faraday pouch on arrival. I get that they are a part of life and needed for safety on journey to and from school (although I would argue that for many they don’t actually even need it for that!). But during school hours they simply do not need them and should not have access to them. This has been rolled out in some schools already and the benefits are already being seen. I would welcome it in a heartbeat if my child’s school did this!! What do you think? Would really love to hear people’s opinions - YABU - children should be allowed access to their phones throughout the school day YANBU - all schools should ban smartphone access on school sites entirely by asking students to leave them at home, place them in a phone locker or in a faraday pouch

sunshine237 · 21/03/2025 15:50

‘Our children are learning this behaviour from us.’ It doesn’t help, but it’s so much bigger than that now. The brightest minds in the world are ensuring phones are utterly addictive. Some are more prone to the obsession than others but I’ve watched it spiral in recent years to young and old alike, there’s now something for everyone and it’s so hard to fight. They absolutely do need to be banned in schools and it is honestly crazy to me that phones in schools is even a thing.

Echobelly · 21/03/2025 14:56

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.

Tiswa · 21/03/2025 09:24

Just had a survey actually from my daughters school about raising kids in the digital age via our local MP who is getting views together

its hard isn’t it I know mine doesn’t check her phone at all during the day she is at school and isn’t tempted, manages her screen limits etc and is very good but personality comes into that much more than parenting.
DS doesn’t take his in because he worries about it making noise (we pick him up and drop him off)

getting schools to ban them full stop for me doesn’t solve the issue which is that we have to teach our children how to regulate it how to manage it how not to need to look at it because you can’t do that in a workplace you shouldn’t do it in a university lecture

another problem of course that does unspoken is that OUR usage is out of control, that the addiction to Smart phones is in our generation and that our children are learning this behaviour from us.

BogRollBOGOF · 21/03/2025 09:08

The reality of life in 2025 is that functional life works very much around the assumption that people can access apps/ internet on a smart phone. It's not 1995, there are no pay phones, the bus companies don't put timetables out, the bus fare isn't 32p. There's fewer buildings such as pubs that you could walk into if you had a problem (and u18s aren't allowed up to the bar), so while schools can set whatever policy they like, families are considering the reality of life beyond the school gates.

The DC's school has an "out of sight, out of mind policy". I have no issue with that. If my DCs get their phone confiscated through mis-use, then they'll face the consequences both through school and possibly at home if that's needed to make the point.

I would be fine with the use of pouches/ handing in, but on the scale of a typical secondary school, that puts more pressure on school day timings and admin staff.

I would object to no smart phones on site because that's ignoring the reality of the world they live in. There's been times when buses have been diverted and accessing the bus website, and google maps has been invaluable at keeping autistic DS informed and calm and avoiding a meltdown in the street.

8:20- 3:10, my children are only contactable via the school office. In support of that I've set their Do Not Disturb to those times. (Yes they can override it, but this is in terms of me supporting school, and setting an expectation). I might drop a low importance SMS for them to pick up at the end of the day, but I don't expect a response because I expect them to be focused on learning.

The rot has been creeping in for the last 20 years. I remember a lesson back in the days of polyphonic ringtones when I had a senior member of staff at my door asking why I hadn't submitted a confiscated phone to the office... I was still teaching the lesson! The child had sneakily used a friend's phone to complain to their parents and the parents were immediately contacting the office. Weak management set the tone then of indulging whinging parents and being accusatory to teaching staff and a generation later, those teenagers are now the parents and it's all escalated. Schools gave too much ground on not upholding their policies then, and the fruit of the damage is now.

I delayed access to phones until partway through y6 as my DCs didn't need them until then. Y6 was a more closed, sheltered environment to start the learning curve than 6m later in y7. DS2 learnt that he has no interest in large group chats; he just wants to communicate with close friends. DS1 isn't sociable anyway. I use parental controls. I monitor what they access, I talk with them about internet safety. So far they respect the boundaries because they understand the reasons for them and they're not too punitive or out of touch with the world. Could it go wrong? Yes that's always possible, but I'm trying to give them a safely bounded way to grow and learn. I don't think it's reasonable to hold them back until 16 and hope that they're automatically mature enough not to do daft things with a phone.

When I was DS1's age, we weren't quite at the point of mainstream internet, and mobile phones- I was in my 20s before I had a phone that could do anything other than calls and SMS. There's plenty of idiots my age that didn't automatically enter that era in a state of maturity. My "philosophy" as a parent is that my role is to as healthily as possible (body and mind) to build my children from babyhood to being functional adults for the world they live in. Go back or ahead 10 years and my decisions may well vary, but I'm trying to be as realistic as I can now.

The reality is that if you take mobile phones out of the equation, you have to put additional resources into filling the gaps (e.g. more admin staff to manage communications, install payphones)

User79853257976 · 20/03/2025 23:30

We try. They use them anyway.

maw1681 · 20/03/2025 23:16

My DDs school have the same policy as yours. I think it’s the best compromise because I want her to have it for the way to and from school for safety and her bus pass. Also I just don’t think it’s practical to have every child drop off and collect their phones at the start and end of the day - it would take so much time they’d end up missing their buses! I’d also be worried about theft and damage.

Flutterbees · 20/03/2025 22:44

I’m in another country, phones are banned at school during the day and it’s all fine, the kids all cope. You can supply your child with a phone as a medical device (eg to check insulin levels) but it’s easy to monitor as there are only a few students using phones for that purpose so it’s infrequent quick glances at the phone, and it often has a case saying it’s a medical device. The ban came in a few years ago, honestly it’s been a game changer. Thoroughly recommend it.

OldTiredMum1976 · 20/03/2025 22:28

LetsPhotographTheLights · 20/03/2025 22:20

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.

Edited

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There’s honestly no point. Parents just do not get it as you can see from all the replies like this one I’ve quoted.

Well, enjoy your shitty schools with shitty behaviour, made 1000 times worse by the phones. I’ll keep on trying to help your kids pass their maths GCSE until I have enough as well and then there’s one less maths teacher. Thank god we can afford private for ours.

Im out.

MarketSt · 20/03/2025 22:27

I have a daughter in Y7 and she hands her phone in first thing before registration and collects it at the end of the day.

This is the case for all years up until 6th form. Exceptions for medical need only.

LetsPhotographTheLights · 20/03/2025 22:20

90sseemedsomucheasier · 20/03/2025 22:01

Well done for parenting your child well. I parent mine well too. As well as I can, I absolutely try my best.

My concerns aren’t about my child’s behaviour (although I’m not naive enough to think that if they were given unfettered access to a smart phone then they wouldn’t stumble across inappropriate content). My concern is disrupted learning, and access to content through the phones of children that are perhaps not parented as well as your child.

It shocks me that there are so many people that are so incredibly naive that they think that as long as there child is fine then all will be ok. This NEEDS to be a collective. It is damaging society as a whole. It really is.

Show quote history

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.

UmopapIsdn · 20/03/2025 22:12

ClosetBasketCase · 20/03/2025 13:46

I had, and will make sure that my kids have their smart phones - ven if the school makes a fuss: several reasons as stated below:

I was horrifically bullied at school. and singled out by some teachers as i was the "poor kid" at school on scolarships and bursaries.

I was diagosed with T1D aged 5, We had no choce but to put me in private education as all schools in my catchment area were terrible, stabbings, arrests, and crap results, and more importantly no school nurses. I tried it in state school for 1 year, they wouldnt cope with dealing with it, and used to shut me in a supply cupbored when i had to check my sugars, or when i went hypo - instead of treating it, would just leave me and call my mum to come get me - i was 5... i couldnt treat by myself at that point, once it dropped past a certain point (another issue was they wouldnt let me check when i felt funny, only on a schedule that they made) i was almost unresponsive- and couldnt rteat myself, so they call mum, who was 20 minutes away at work,

It got to the point where id ended up in hospital several times because i was let down by the school. mum was looking at loosing her job for having to run out multiple times a week.

so we put me in private, where i had the school nurse, and could get sorted whenever i needed to, mum was able to work etc (she was the minority to have a working mum there, and it showed with the teachers)

I got the phone so that i could call her if things got bad, and i needed suport, also so that i could call the diabetes nurses when i needed to, now? i use it for my freestyle libre- the handset it comes with doesnt do the alarms when you sugars rise/drop past certain points etc. I will always now have my smart phone, and when the time comes so will my kids - sadly the diabetes passed on so it is a nescesity.

screw the perils - the advantages outweigh them.

The handset does have alarms for high/low reading - you have to set them yourself in settings. Not saying this in a 'you’re so wrong' way but just in case it helps you out.

Whistledown2 · 20/03/2025 22:09

Smartphones should never ever have been allowed into the classroom full stop. Children cannot self regulate.

Schools existed without smartphone phones for many many years. Theres absolutely no need for them in the classroom at all.

Original poster

90sseemedsomucheasier · 20/03/2025 22:01

LetsPhotographTheLights · 20/03/2025 21:07

The threat of a detention was/is enough to stop my children looking at their phones during the school day. If you don’t want your children having a phone at school, then don’t let them take their phone to school, but don’t try and ruin it for others whose children can follow the rules. Parents need to parent.

There was a parent who publicly campaigned for something similar to what you’re suggesting who hadn’t monitored her child’s phone use or parented effectively, but then thought we should all listen to her ideas on how to parent around phone use and SM. Why would I listen to parents like that when I’m capable of parenting well and I’ve brought my children up to be responsible with their phone use and respect school rules?

Well done for parenting your child well. I parent mine well too. As well as I can, I absolutely try my best.

My concerns aren’t about my child’s behaviour (although I’m not naive enough to think that if they were given unfettered access to a smart phone then they wouldn’t stumble across inappropriate content). My concern is disrupted learning, and access to content through the phones of children that are perhaps not parented as well as your child.

It shocks me that there are so many people that are so incredibly naive that they think that as long as there child is fine then all will be ok. This NEEDS to be a collective. It is damaging society as a whole. It really is.

OP posts:

LetsPhotographTheLights · 20/03/2025 21:59

OldTiredMum1976 · 20/03/2025 21:18

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!

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My kids would have been/would be upset if they got told off or if they got a detention, especially my youngest. They’re rule followers, every homework is done, uniform worn correctly etc. I’ve never had a phone call about bad behaviour, they’ve never had a detention, isolation or even a negative behaviour point. If they broke the rules, I wouldn’t make excuses for them, but they’ve just never got into trouble and follow the rules. Neither have ever been overly attached to their phone, youngest doesn’t even have TikTok etc as not interested. Not all kids are breaking the rules. Neither me nor my kids are the problem.

OonaStubbs · 20/03/2025 21:48

OldTiredMum1976 · 20/03/2025 21:05

OMG for the love of everything that is holy!

No school is going to stop children with any sort of need that requires a phone from having one!!!! If they have it out faffing on YouTube in lessons though then there should be a swift and fairly harsh punishment.

What are these "needs" that require smartphones and what did children with those "needs" do before smartphones were invented?

Just ban them. Outright.

suburberphobe · 20/03/2025 21:43

Most parents are great that was meant to say,

suburberphobe · 20/03/2025 21:42

The biggest problem is parents!

What?!

More parents are great, even single ones,

OldTiredMum1976 · 20/03/2025 21:18

LetsPhotographTheLights · 20/03/2025 21:07

The threat of a detention was/is enough to stop my children looking at their phones during the school day. If you don’t want your children having a phone at school, then don’t let them take their phone to school, but don’t try and ruin it for others whose children can follow the rules. Parents need to parent.

There was a parent who publicly campaigned for something similar to what you’re suggesting who hadn’t monitored her child’s phone use or parented effectively, but then thought we should all listen to her ideas on how to parent around phone use and SM. Why would I listen to parents like that when I’m capable of parenting well and I’ve brought my children up to be responsible with their phone use and respect school rules?

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!

suburberphobe · 20/03/2025 21:17

Watching Adolescence made me cry. Brilliant and scary.

13 year old? A child.

Manosphere. Terrifying.

suburberphobe · 20/03/2025 21:11

I agree.

Watching the brilliant Adolescence on Netflix I couldn't agree more.

Thing is, I think it's past that point.

Everyone has a mobile now. You need it for work, home, kids, transport, etc.

I wish we could ban porn myself.

Gnarab24 · 20/03/2025 21:09

Haven’t RTFT
was talking to my DD recently about the mental
health of children her age and younger and we both agreed that smart phone ubiquity was a significant factor.
I’d not be surprised if smart phones are banned for under 16’s at some point in the future as they essentially cause brain rot. Our kids are not doing well and the proliferation of social media and doom scrolling are a significant part of the problem.

LetsPhotographTheLights · 20/03/2025 21:07

The threat of a detention was/is enough to stop my children looking at their phones during the school day. If you don’t want your children having a phone at school, then don’t let them take their phone to school, but don’t try and ruin it for others whose children can follow the rules. Parents need to parent.

There was a parent who publicly campaigned for something similar to what you’re suggesting who hadn’t monitored her child’s phone use or parented effectively, but then thought we should all listen to her ideas on how to parent around phone use and SM. Why would I listen to parents like that when I’m capable of parenting well and I’ve brought my children up to be responsible with their phone use and respect school rules?

OldTiredMum1976 · 20/03/2025 21:05

OMG for the love of everything that is holy!

No school is going to stop children with any sort of need that requires a phone from having one!!!! If they have it out faffing on YouTube in lessons though then there should be a swift and fairly harsh punishment.

OonaStubbs · 20/03/2025 21:04

There should be an outright ban on smartphones in schools. For everyone. Any smartphone found on school premises should be crushed.

AgathaMystery · 20/03/2025 21:02

90sseemedsomucheasier · 20/03/2025 13:13

The technology is there to monitor medical devices without a smartphone. Another example where we need to do better for our children

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Give over.

only a smart phone can run Dexcom follow AND CamAPS AND sugarmate or Glooco.

I hate smartphones in school but children with T1DM need them and Apple Watches on them at all times.