Strict no phones rule at secondary school

I don't think, by the way, that parents tracking their children are "proactive". To me, "proactive" parents are the ones who work with their children to teach them strategies to keep themselves safe.

It's proven it has. In several incidences. It's not guaranteed but has worked

@SweetNaffAll I absolutely understand that some children are more at risk than others. And some areas are more dangerous than others. My poor is that tracking a child won't reduce the risk or be any help at all.

Some people are too hard up on mocking pro active parents without giving any consideration to the fact that some areas are more safe than others!

Are they? My DD's walking route to school takes 30 minutes and she wouldn't pass a single shop on the way

Your ignorance is shocking

Islington... look it up 🙄

Is it not just fair to say that in some parts of the world, things are less idealic and there is a real reason to be overly concerned of a child's safety to and from school?

It's rather ignorant to assume otherwise!

My children's school have had numerous letters and meetings to tackle the knife crime epidemic and it has been agreed it is indeed safer to carry a phone than to not.

A teenager lost his life the other day to knife crime. 15 years old. In fact every week our community groups whether on 'Next-door ' or 'Facebook ' are flooded with incidents if knife related crime - usually aimed a young teenagerers.

Not everyone is privileged to live in a low crime rate area!

Mock away...

@SweetNaffAll is that advice from the police? Make sure your child has a phone so they've got something to hand over? And multiple stabbings?

@Calloffruity - they're more likely to be outside a shop than somewhere where mum can swoop to the rescue.

At last, a school with sense! I work in a secondary school and would love it if they weren't permitted. No sneaky texting going on to organise a vaping sesh in the toilets 🙄

Genuinely..where do you live?

I live in a Borough that have police outside schools for this very reason! Multiple stabbing after school due to phone theft.

A job of a parent is to help children navigate this stuff safely. You can't shelter them from everything. If they get their first phone at 18, they're not going to magically be immune from the above. Communication is key, and reasonable monitoring of their phone usage whilst they're still children. It's the best you can hope for.

I see your point with Knife crime, however it is what it is now, and therefore it is safer for a child to have a phone they can hand over if targeted. Sad but true.

If they have family members close enough to actually swoop in and prevent a potential attack, then they would be better running towards said family members' houses (or their neighbours' houses) than messing about with phones and panic buttons.

Because wherever a child is on their journey home, no matter where they are, they will always be outside a shop 😂

If parents want to really make their kids safe then take their phones off them.

People are terrified of rare events like accidents or kidnap but seem to completely ignore the things that are much more likely to happen- online bullying, sexting, nudes, revenge porn, grooming and coordinated attacks. All using phones.

I would bet my life that knife crime and teen gang culture would be very stifled if suddenly tomorrow no teenager in this country had a phone.

"Also, having a phone protects them from potential stabbing! They know to hand phone over immediately if targeted."

Seriously????

Jesus 🙈

Parents should really stop texting their children when they're at school, especially in lessons.

Having a panic button is not the only measure a child is advised to take.

I've told my children if they think they're being followed to walk up to the nearest door and knock on it.
A) the person following may assume they live there and walk on.

B) even I'd they don't, my children can explain to whoever has opened their door what is going on.

C) it buys them time to alert me.

Also, having a phone protects them from potential stabbing! They know to hand phone over immediately if targeted.

I agree, it's a very good point.

That's good to hear @Boudicasbeard, it's encouraging to know that your school is alive to this issue and prepared to make adjustments to accommodate it. Thanks.

Sorry, auto correct made a mess of that.

Essentially, phone are a complete distraction in class. I must confiscate two every lesson in Yr 10 from various kids. They are mindlessly scrolling instead of paying attention to their GCSE learning and then wander why they are failing.

If a child is kidnapped you have their latest location. If a child presses panic button, you are likely to get to the location or alert other family or friends that could get there sooner.

Alternatively you could come home from work expecting your child to be home only to discover they're not and you've zero idea what went wrong or when.

Surely it's not rocket science? It's not fail proof but it's definitely more beneficial!

@thing47

We have a kid like this and he has special
permission to do so. If he was one of a handful in school with a phone then we wouldn’t have the issues we are having. I think that would come under reasonable adjustments.

But both kids and parents seem to think it is a human right to be able to text each other constantly. If you are texting your kids during the day then they are using it as an excuse to do other things that they shouldn’t be. Every child is ask about why they have their phones out is texting their parents which cannot statistically be true.

And then parents ask us why they aren’t Doug better in their GCSEs- because the kid spends all day everyday glued to their phone and when we finally fight to get it off them so they can do their work the parent phones in and complains they’ve had it confiscated, again.