To feel relieved the school has now completely banned phones

I suppose the schools think/hope that it'll gradually change their culture and reduce the problem to just a few pupils who simply won't be told what to do - usually with parents who'll raise hell if someone so much as suggests they might

Going to school without phones in the 90s is not relevant to today's kids. School in the 90s was preparing the kids to becoming adults in the 90s and early 00s. Life is different now and our kids' needs are subsequently different too.

My teens use their phones to access public transport passes, timetables, maps, info. They use them to keep track of homework, and in some cases to do it. They have banking online and via their phones.

I think social media is problematic and support age limits or bans there. I'm also totally supportive of a no phones in class or even during the whole school day but a total ban does them a disservice imo. It's 2026 now and many areas of life pretty much require a smartphone whether you like it or not. They aren't the devil. They're a powerful tool we should be teaching our kids to use responsibly.

Of course they won't. The root of the issue is ineffective parenting. Schools are damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Locked away not off. The point teachers have made is valid.

Where there has been bans of use during the school day, it has reduced bullying.

Do you honestly think some teenagers will adhere to this? I don't.

That's how I feel about the ban.

I'm glad mine got through secondary school before it came in. You don't know how important it is to have one until that emergency comes where it is important.

And we have a secondary school walking route goes past work: there's a fair trade in old smart phones and swapping of SIM cards (to hide that they have a smart phone at home) goes on.

We should be teaching them (as parents) to be responsible when they first get them rather than handing them one at 16/18yo and expecting them suddenly to be responsible.

We never used to have seat belts, we didn't for decades. Just like not every child git home safely, or rather the girls didn't, there were only a few child deaths because we didn't have seat belts.
@Eastie77Returns would you feel the same if his sister wasn't in the school and had a ohone?
I hope all those living rurally now take their share of asylum seekers, let's see how things change. A Sudanese man recently felt agrieved about life in England, so he took a hamner and knife to his most local school. A asylum seeker was walking around by me with a knife in each hand, around 7.30 in the morning. I'm not interested in being gas lit about dangers in the home, that doesn't apply across my family. Adult men preying on children does affect us. If they aren't white British, the police aren't interested.

Yes, and years ago there were far more payphones than there are now. Most have been taken away now and the remaining boxes where they used to be have either gone too or been turned into things like book exchanges.

Nobody wants their child having to knock on strangers' front doors either. Don't suggest "ask a policeman" because there are none of those to be seen around here. You'd have to go miles to find one.

Smartphones have been banned from secondary where I live. I think it’s fine but there needs to be the infrastructure in place to support people without smartphones to use public transport as children potentially have to travel quite far. At the moment it costs more without a phone as you can get a special pass on the phone app. Also all the bus tracking is on the phone app as lots of stops don’t have the electronic display.

I don't agree with a total ban but as soon as they enter gate in the morning any phone should be off with punishment if seen out. Once they leave at 3 or whatever, surely they can do what they want as it's their own free time.

Interesting the policy refers to having the phone for travelling:

There are a number of ways in which schools can ensure that they are mobile phone-free, and it is for headteachers to decide how best to achieve this within their own unique contexts.

Some schools have chosen to use lockers to store mobile phones and other equipment, ensuring that pupils still have access to a device for safety reasons when travelling to and from school. This ensures that any potential distractions from mobile phones are removed entirely during the school day. To prevent pupils from attempting to circumvent this policy, one secondary school ensures that buy-in from parents is gained prior to transition from primary school, and that all families are content to accept all of the school’s policies. In return, the school ensures they are responsive to communication from home, where required, in their school office.

There are also schools who successfully facilitate pupils handing a mobile phone to staff at the start of the school day. Again, this allows all pupils to feel safe on their journey to and from school while removing digital distraction for the entirety of the school day.

Explicitly referring to the idea of: ensuring that pupils still have access to a device for safety reasons when travelling to and from school.

Children have been doing that for decades before mobile phones and survived.

I'm very glad my granddaughter had a phone on her first day at secondary school today as she got on the wrong bus home and had no idea where she was. Not being able to contact us would have been a nightmare.

They don’t need access to homework in school and things can easily be changed. Ditto re bus passes.

I thought you were rural? Do you have pavements along all your roads?

My child is 9 and doesn't have a phone. My plan has always been to get him one when he's old enough for secondary school as that's when he'll start getting on a bus by himself, and I'll want him to have one in case he needs to call me. So I'm afraid I agree completely with the friend.

Round here the school bus passes are on an app. Homework is set via online portals too.

A total ban would not work.

This is the newly published guidance that schools must follow from this September:
Mobile phones in schools - GOV.UK

Reality check… Anyone suggesting phones “off and on bags” is a solution has never been a school teacher!!!

Oh for goodness sake.🙄

The number of kids killed walking on rural roads was higher back then. Is that the sort of thing you mean by 'figured shit out yourself' - kids walking home in the dark on rural roads?

You’ve read the thread. Some even think they should have phones to be able to text parents as to what they need to bring bring in the next day. Heaven forbid they wait until they get home to tell them verbally or you know sort it out themselves. 😱

We have this at my school hence my comment about old phones and burners, they’re getting around it

Turned off and in bag with punishments for infringements is the way to go in my view. My ds traveled to school on his own and I valued him being able to contact us. He's 17 now and seems fine!