Banning brick phones on journeys from school

Absolutely people are nieve if they think every child is going to hand in their phone or put it in a pouch.

I've not got a phone (actually its in my bag)

My phones already in the pouch (actually its an old phone cover and a dud battery for weight)

Interesting. Sounds like lots of schools are just very different to the one my daughter attends.

We lined up at the start of the day anyway. Tutors go along the line as they check the uniforms and the phones are placed into numbered slots in boxes and taken by heads of year. It's then less than 10 mins at the end of the day to line up and give them out.

Bonus, people in detention have their phones stored seperately to be returned after serving the detention, so attendance for those should improve and they'll be taken more seriously as a deterrent

We have re-jigged office spaces, but logistical changes were going to occur anyway.

Yes, registration/form time at start and end of the day. Teachers go through the register with every single student anyway, so no additional effort to take in/hand out the clearly labelled phones.
They immediately go in bags - if seen in hand inside school, they get confiscate, and can only get collected by a parent in a fairly tight window from the next day. Works a treat, and the kids are safe!

I must admit I have no idea why brick phones are banned. I can absolutely understand banning smart phones but why bricks? Haven’t read the whole thread so sorry if this has been explained.

Personally I think the best solution is to ban smartphones, allow bricks only, and then require them to be handed in.

although handing phones in isn’t foolproof- kids may hand in a burner / old phone they found in a drawer at home and then keep their real phone in their bag..

Oh! Sorry - both live in Scotland and grew up in the states so my terms are all confused. Our school doesn’t do that so wouldn’t help but that does seem like a solution (excerpt they’re allowed them at lunchtime and whenever they leave campus for other schools etc so would be complicated).

Some area schools trialled the pouches but they’re so expensive and the kids just cheat at them so fairly useless too. The primary school just puts them in a locked drawer but obviously easy as it’s just one classroom much of the day.

I assume she meant registration as in form time or tutor time (or whatever the school calls it).
The 10/15 or so minutes where the register (attendance) is taken and messages given out.
At lot of schools do form time at both the beginning and the end of the day now.
Plenty of time to put 30 phones in a box and then hand them out again at the end of the day.

How does reception manage this? Super curious on the logistics as it's a huge sticking point for our school. The reception space is tiny and it would take ages for 800 kids to queue up each morning and afternoon - and then getting the right phone back to each person is another nightmare. There must be a way around this but no one seems to be able to come up with one (very much the chat of the PTA meeting!)

Weirdly enough, plenty of schools solve the issue, even with smartphones.
Our school: medical devices need an official ok, which comes with a note on tbe student account, and a laminated card attached to the phone
Everyone else: Parents need to register that their child gas a phone . Registered phones handed in at registration, collected at registration. Phones go in a locked drawer.
Phone seen at school means it gets confiscated and can only get collected by a parent between 10:30 and 11:00 monday - thursday. its meant to be a pain for parents ;)
No major behavioural issues, no phone issues, safe children (rural school, most need smartphones)
We also had to sign that bringing phones to school is entirely our own risk, so nobody has even remotely new/expensive phones. most have 4/5 year old phones

You’ll sometimes get a kid with a medical exemption though who not only has their smartphone with them but has it out on their desk so you can never say never.

dc public transport pass is only available on an app (not uk) you can get other tickets but they are a lot more expensive, without child/student discount.

school has lockers for each pupil though and dc are expected to leave their phone in there during the school day.

I think it’s becoming very clear why behaviour is so appalling in schools. Parents finding excuses and arguing against school rules. What chance do children have growing up in an environment like that?

They have to be handed in. This is non negotiable.Hoards of schools already collect in phones, even primary schools. I don’t want my kids in a school with other children having access to phones during the school day. I don’t want my kids filmed on the way into school or in school. Kids don’t do as they are told and can’t be trusted.

How many of you "zero tolerance for children having phones" types are willing to have YOUR child be the statistically rare rape/kidnap/murder victim to back up your "in my day" bullshit?

This isn't the past. Even if it were, the past wasn't safe either.

How gregarious of you to offer up other people's children to predators because of YOUR prejudices about phones.

There are no public phones to call 999 with any more but you want children to not even carry a brick phone for accidents and emergencies.

Despicable selfish attitudes still abound on here. I've been away from this place for years and nothing has changed.

The form for the exemption is clear that the school accepts no liability for loss/damage/theft of any phones handed in…

£300 for a "budget" phone 😂😂😂
Any parent who thinks that's a budget phone is on a different planet.
I have an emergency dumb/brick phone. It cost me £10 from Argos.
(although the same one is now £8).
It makes phone calls and sends texts.
It does have a camera but it's fairly rubbish.
It doesn't even have the snake game 😂
This is the type of phones that should be allowed in schools and having the switched off in your bag rule.

I think the idea of phones getting handed in is equally crazy.
How long will that take and how do you ensure that the cupboard they are locked in is actually safe and secure.

Who's responsible if a phone goes missing, accidently handed to the wrong person, or if someone claims to have handed one in but didn't.

Even a class full of relatively budget phones, say £300 a phone, x 30 kids is £9000 in a cupboard.

It should be simple phones in bottom of bag, switched off in class.

My son's school allow brick phones in bag for emergency. In 3 years he's never used it and no longer bothers taking it so it wouldn't bother me if they banned them.

It's been good for him. Instead of just phoning me if something goes wrong he finds a way of dealing with it. The journey to and from school with his friends is much more fun as none of them have phones with them. So I'm glad the school don't use pouches.

Bus tickets are on an arrival connect smart card so no app needed.

I’ve emailed the school, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Will see what they reply before escalating.

It seems an unworkable policy regardless - DD seems to think around 70% of pupils will need their phone for the bus journey. Any child with an exemption will hand their phone in at the start of the day and get it back at the end. They have introduced a second tutor period at the end of the day to accommodate this (at the expense of learning time), but it would mean somewhere in the region of 700 phones being handed in and returned on a daily basis if they allow kids on buses to be exempt.

They have always been strict on phones - any phone seen in school was confiscated and would only be returned to the parent. Which meant a 40 mile round trip for some parents. My kids have never had their phone confiscated and DD says it’s rare anyone does. I supported this policy, but the new one is nonsense.

The school needs to use the pouches as a compromise. Our school has them and the kids complained for 2 weeks then just got on with it. Then they can travel to and from school with phones but they're locked away for the school day!

School is no place for a smart phone. Brick phones should absolutely be allowed.

It's really lovely that so many people never had a bother as a teenager, coming and going from school. As someone who got screamed at, tripped over on the bus.... As someone who then avoided the bus because of that and walked home 5 miles in fear most days, it was a very lonely and scary place to be.

Am I placing that anxiety on my child? Maybe. I've had messages from them over the last few years. Usually dickheads on the bus, so I've drove to the bus stop to make sure he isn't followed off. Twice for bike malfunctions that they couldn't fix themselves. As a kid, I'd have walked it home and been okay, but it's still shit.

Why some parents are so set on a "well I did without and I was okay" attitude is short sighted but I'm so glad you all and your children raise no cause for anxiety

Have you complained to governors. Banning phones when the school coach needs you to show an app is perverse. They can add if you travel by Bloggs coach to school to exempt list.

It’s not a public bus it’s a private coach company. I used to pay the school, who paid the bus company, and the driver had a list of names. Now I pay the bus company and they require DD to show her ticket on the coach company’s app.

I don’t understand your post though - buses couldn’t have been app-only tickets pre mobile phones.

The school I went to it would be one tiny shop across the road, which used to have a payphone.
The next shop the owner was a sleazy git. Girls would avoid at all costs.

Where my sons school is isn't too bad near a garage and a couple of other small businesses.

But not every school is like that. And you also have to consider how many people don't pick up numbers they don't know.
So even if a child does call Mum or Dad might not even clock its their DC trying to get through.