Government announces ban on mobile phones in schools

[noblegiraffe]

...because it won't cost them anything and there won't be any pushback because the vast majority of schools banned phones years ago.

Perhaps they could also ban kids running in corridors or pushing in the lunch queue.

What a waste of time government this is.

(by 'banning phones' it's generally accepted to mean kids can have them in their bags but they must be turned off or at least on silent and never seen - so any parental cries of 'but they need them for the journey home' are irrelevant.)

In practice they ‘ban phones’ but then ask the kids to get them out every 5 minutes to use google/ take screen shots/ film something.

How's this going to be policed then Rishi?

Teachers are paid by the state, not the government.

Every citizen, whether paid by the state or not, is entitled to criticise the government of the day.

This is one of the key features of a democracy. It is undemocratic to oppose free speech.

Actually teachers are paid by local authorities ir academies

Judas springs to mind

How does the one-time follower and subsequent betrayer of Jesus fit into your view of teachers? In your own time.

Yes @echt, that comparison is utterly ridiculous!

The money comes from the Treasury.

The way it is done in NSW Australia is by having the phones locked in a pouch that the student keeps. There is a reader at the gate that opens it at the end of the school day.
students can’t access the phone at recess nor lunch.

The decision has been popular in Australia. Phones were causing great issues with kids using them inappropriately during class; as a tool for bullying and sexual abuse; watching porn; playing games and chatting online etc. Mobile phones are a diversion and distraction not required in the educational environment.

Local Authorities pay for a lot if things entirely or partly from Central Government funding. Are motorists not allowed to complain about pot holes? Should none of us moan about anything funded from the public purse? Should we just ne grateful for anything the government do regardless?

Think you've misunderstood me or confused me with someone else. I responded upthread that (almost all, with the exception of some restricted posts) people living in a democracy are entitled to criticise the government's policies.

My point was purely that the LA or Academy may issue the paycheck but the money comes from the Treasury.

But they aren't paid by the government. Sainsbury's money comes from customers but staff are still entitled to complain about unpleasant customers.

For those people saying that phone use is encouraged in some schools, this is often because there is no funding for decent devices in school to work on, but also an expectation that the children will incorporate ict into their learning. In reality (certainly in primary) ict lessons, let alone using it in other subjects, is a hilarious dream when the laptops take 15 mins to turn on and have to be plugged in and the iPads are too old to even complete the government mandated multiplication check on.

There must be so many headteachers up down the country relieved that finally someone has thought up an answer to the mobile phone issue. If only schools had thought of it and implemented it years ago. What inspirational ideas will they come up with next? Maybe something revolutionary for dealing with lost property?

Efaciciou5- are you Gilliam and we have not thanked you enough?
Crack on!

Both my dc's secondary schools have had this policy for a few years. Sunack doesn't have a clue.

@Efficaciou5 the government doesn’t pay for anything. It just decides what to do with our money(tax) or money that we have to pay for (gov borrowing).

Ah, my hero Gillian Keegan strikes again. She's inspirational. Please tell me she fancies her chances at Party Leadership. She's the leader that the Conservatives truly deserve.

Smartphones? Is it 2015?! It's smart watches they need to be banning in school.

Phones are banned in our school.
In reality, the kids still use them. On the yard, corridor and in lessons.
They get it taken off them and parent has to fetch from office.
More often than not, parent has choice words about waste of time, rather than saving their ire for their dumb kid who refuses to follow rules.
Can't see how a total ban could be policed without taking a ridiculous amount of time.

Thank God Rishi has banned phones.

Now when I confiscate one, it'll be because it's government policy instead of the school policy we've had for more than a decade.

That'll make all the difference. I'm so glad we have such a fabulous government.

Oooh pick me....

.... name labels! Do I win a government contract?

Being unpleasant isn't acceptable but being annoyed and stating that is because your in effect punishing the parent who has to come get it back. I wouldn't want DS without his phone coming home on the day it gets confiscated and to me that a bigger deal than him getting caught with it at school.

Just give the kid lines or wait move into 21st century interested it into lessons, I do wonder how much more work kids would do if they were allowed to work on devices vs paper. A degree and multiple postgraduate qualification, I have always made notes in real time digitally, everything at work is typed only hand written things is notes to myself which I could even put into a device.

Not having them in school doesn't stop bullying it just means it happens outside the school gate.

Smart watches have the potential to contribute to a solution to the obesity crisis

In other news they are banning Shoplifting and speeding too.
What a G Rishi is.

Giles, GILES! I need to invest in a company that sells plastic storage boxes large enough to hold 1500 mobile telephones! GILES!

I'm sure there's a Head of Department who will be perfectly fine with being evicted from their office to provide somewhere to store them all, won't there?