Are these secondary school mobile phone policies reasonable or too strict?

[Soubriquet]

This year there is new policies for mobile phones My children attend different secondary schools and they each have their own policy.

One I disagree with, and one I thought was acceptable until learning people’s phones are being damaged.

My son’s school has a strict no phones allowed on site at all. I highly disagree with this, as a lot of students travel by public bus, and are therefore unable to contact parents if for what ever reason the bus is late, cancelled or any other emergency.

My daughter’s school, has allocated special phone lockers. I thought this was an acceptable policy, but children are getting their phones back damaged, such as cracked cases, and in some cases, the battery on the phones are also damaged.

I understand they need to be strict on phones, and I am willing to support the school with a reasonable phone policy, but I think both schools need to look at their current policy and adjust them as it clearly isn’t working.

I am all for banning phones in school.

Honestly, you wouldn't believe the brass neck of the kids, walking down the corridor on their phone. You challenge them, get a load of abuse and the time spent following it up is unsustainable.

Then there are the kids sneakily taking pictures of their peers or teachers.
It is poor do when KCSIE now has a specific section on deep fakes 🙄

How are the phones getting damaged if in lockers?

I honestly don’t know. It’s just what I’m being told.

I will also add that neither of my children own a phone, so right now the policy doesn’t affect us, but we are planning on getting them one since both of them rely on public transport

Is it the same policy for brick phones as smart phones? That seems unreasonable.

Doesn’t specify. Just says all phones.

Though my son’s school does state that they do not want any student calling home during school hours to bring in forgotten items so I’m guessing it includes brick phones in its policy

Life was so much better before mobile phones. If kids 'have' to have them, it should be brick only.

If phones are being damaged then that is what needs challenging, not the policy itself.
It is absolutely shit that the government has brought in a ‘no phone in school’ law and left schools to deal with the fallout. Parents buy their kids this piece of £1000 kit and then it automatically puts them in conflict with the school, who get bollocked if they don’t uphold the government rules. It’s all well and good parents saying ‘but my Jonny just keeps it in his bag’; that’s nice but not everyone’s Jonny does and actually, the same parent often wants to be able to contact Jonny in school ‘just in case’. Most parents say they agree with the rules but actually don’t want their kid having their phone confiscated if it’s seen (because invariably the reason their kid had their phone out was an exception).
It’s a total nightmare and the fact that you are dealing with two different schools with different policies just shows how schools have been hung out to dry with this shit. Not to mention there’s no magic money for phone lockers / pouches etc.

I guess this is part of it then maybe.
They want kids not only avoiding the distraction of phones, but also moving into the new phase of responsibility around bringing their own things, dealing with a delayed bus themselves etc (although the busses around here all have QR codes for checking the service so a bit unfair on the kids there!)

Good point regarding QR codes

A lot of kids have a physical bus pass but there must be some who require a mobile one. How are they supposed to not being phones to school if it’s needed for the bus

Well if they aren't allowed phones then arguably what they need is the physical pass given those are an option.

I'm a teacher.

Firstly, can't imagine how phones are getting damaged. Sounds like a convenient excuse.

Our lot stick their phones in the pouches on the way in. They keep the pouches in their bags all day. Pouches unlocked on the way out. They're responsible for the pouches.

Behaviour in school has massively improved, no one in the corridors, instead of between 2-3 requests for toilet each lesson (so around 50 a week) I only had 2 requests in the whole of last week. Seems to confirm what every teacher already knew about toilet.

Also seems to be less issues in the community, especially of the variety that spill into schools. Has freed up a bunch of teacher time not having to check phones.

The pros far outweigh the cons.

How are they getting damaged?

DDs schol is still going for the off in bags approach, but ramped up the punishments for a phone being seen/heard.

Remembering myself as a teenager I almost think 'off in bag' sets them up to fail a bit. The temptation will always be there, followed by whatever punishment if caught. I think the pouches/lockers are a much better idea, they just make it a done deal.

My daughter's school brought pouches in last year, just in time for her to start year 7. It's great - I really like it as there are no phones in use during the day at all, but each kid is still responsible for their own phone, no big storage problem or damage/theft worries. And she can still use her phone for the bus pass, send a message to say the bus is stuck in traffic, listen to music on the way home, etc. I can't fault it.

We also have pouches. They look to be working well. DC has her phone to walk to/from school but no distractions in lessons. She is responsible for it locked in the pouch in her bag so no damage.
Schools seem to have had a variety of responses to the new rules but this one seems to work best. I’ve no issue if it’s easier for teachers and better for students.

My son Catches a public bus to school. His ticket is stored on an app on his phone so he needs it to travel to and from school. Fortunately the school is extremely sensible and accepts that phones switched off is fine. They can even go to reception to have approved access if required (and have to use it under their supervision - this would only be in an emergency and can’t think what it would be but the pupils know it’s an option). My son says everyone respects it and it’s fine. I think some schools are over complicating it.

Bring back basic Nokias or whatever you call the none cheap smart phones. They will work perfectly fine in an emergency.

Kids do need a phone though if they are walking home or going to school alone.

I like the phones in pouches. Off in bag didn't work, kiddo often texted instead of using the phone in the office as they were allowed. However , school frequently asked me to ring kiddo to find out where they had absconded to.

They need to keep their Sen kids in school!

I wish mine had pouches, instead they can have them in bags/pockets, but they "can't be seen" on the school site. It's made things worse, as we now just have to take them with no chances, so I'm spending my time arguing and writing it up. Then they just want to go to the loo to look at them. I've decided this is my last term in teaching after 24 years

Much better to have no phones on site. Everyone managed for years before mobiles were invented.

I would say all mobiles need to be switched off and out of sight in schoolbag during school hours. Anyone breaking those rules should have their phone confiscated and not given back until parents come in to school to collect it personally.

Yeah. We tried that approach. Constant conflict. The bit that's amazing is the 85%+ reduction in toilet use.

They don't need their phones.

They don't need the toilet.