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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel relieved the school has now completely banned phones

256 replies

Eastie77Returns · 04/09/2026 14:15

DD’s school has completely banned phones for all incoming Y7 pupils and this will last for the entirety of their time at the school going toward. Existing pupils are still allowed to bring phones in but have to keep to the old rule (if they are seen or heard they are confiscated for 20 days).

DD is Y9 so she will be able to follow the old rule but DS, who starts secondary next year, will not be able to take one in. I honestly feel a massive sense of relief. He doesn’t have a phone at the moment and I was planning to get him an old style Nokia as he isn’t bothered about tech or latest phones. However I was a bit worried that he’d feel left if all his friends had iPhones etc. The school seems pretty serious about it all, all pupils and parents have to sign an agreement and any child caught with a phone will be excluded - no questions asked. The mother of DS’ best friend has now decided she will not send her DS to the school as originally planned as she thinks the ban is reckless and dangerous?! AIBU to think the ban is fine and makes complete sense plus millions of children managed to get to and from school safely without phones a generation ago!

OP posts:
GingerIsland · 04/09/2026 14:30

I was at secondary school in the 2000. I did not have a phone and have never used a pay phone in my life, there certainly were not anyone pay phones where I lived. I was absolutely fine. I do remember using the school office phone once or twice.

My mum wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t have come home because I used to just come home at 3 and she wouldn’t be home until 6.

I did own a phone, one of those old Nokias, but never took it to school.

AmazonAntiqueStore · 04/09/2026 14:28

I don’t agree with a complete ban. Ban on using them on school property, absolutely fine and sensible. But why can’t they take them and leave them turned off in their bags? Plenty of reasons they may need to use them while travelling to / from school and the ban makes that impossible.

Original poster
Eastie77Returns · 04/09/2026 14:27

Darragon · 04/09/2026 14:23

Yes but in the 90s you just had to send your kid out with a 10p coin and they could call you from a phonebox. You could also shelter in a phone box from torrential rain and lock yourself in a public toilet if you were being harassed/followed. The public loos are now a coffee shop and no phone boxes in our town. The police made regular patrols and young people feared the consequences of anti social behaviour a lot more than now (because there were consequences back then). We still got egged/beaten up on the way to/from school sometimes. Social order has broken down and infrastructure is worse. I’d rather my kid had a phone or walked home with a parent. Surely if the school has banned phones your kid’s brick is useless too as it’s a phone?

Edited

Sorry, I was unclear. Before I knew about the ban I was just going to give him a brick phone to take to school but now there’s no need for even that.

OP posts:
PermanentlyExhaustedPigeonZZZ · 04/09/2026 14:25

My DD walks a mile to school and back. The school collects phones in at the start of the day and returns them at the end. I would not be happy if they banned them altogether, she has additional needs and I'm happy they are able to walk independently but they need to be tracked and able to contact each other in an emergency.

BendingSpoons · 04/09/2026 14:23

Hmm I'm not sure. The school we hope DD will go to next year is fairly strict - no smartphones on the premises apart from sixth form, dumb phones (with no camera) switched off and out of sight otherwise it is a detention and phone confiscated. They have been doing this for a while now.

Whilst on 1 hand I don't want DD to have a phone, she will be getting the (public) bus to and from school. She has no chance of finding a pay phone if she has an issue. My brother once missed his train home buying sweets, so walked instead, and I remember my mum being really worried. I probably would back the 'no phones at all' rule more if she could walk to school.

Darragon · 04/09/2026 14:23

Yes but in the 90s you just had to send your kid out with a 10p coin and they could call you from a phonebox. You could also shelter in a phone box from torrential rain and lock yourself in a public toilet if you were being harassed/followed. The public loos are now a coffee shop and no phone boxes in our town. The police made regular patrols and young people feared the consequences of anti social behaviour a lot more than now (because there were consequences back then). We still got egged/beaten up on the way to/from school sometimes. Social order has broken down and infrastructure is worse. I’d rather my kid had a phone or walked home with a parent. Surely if the school has banned phones your kid’s brick is useless too as it’s a phone?