To think it is ridiculous that the school have confiscated MY phone????

[Slipperyslopin]

DS (14) was going out last night with a friend to see a movie after school. He didn't know when it ended and then we couldn't find it on the website so I told him to take his phone so he could call me afterwards and I could collect him. He told me his phone wasn't charged, so I gave him my one. He is very trustworthy and careful and I knew he wouldn't lose it, besides I'm not on call at the moment so I wouldn't need it during the day, and I'd rather he had a way to contact me if needed. During school the phone turned on in his pocket (Iphones ) and an alert went off for an update or something. His teacher heard it and confiscated the phone as they are not allowed in school, even if off. DS then had to call me from the office to say he would use his friends phone instead. All fine, fair enough I thought. However I then found out that the school policy is to keep the phone for a fortnight. I have unpredictable shift patterns and I actually do need that phone back, it has important work contacts on and is the number I am generally contacted on by whole family as we don't have a landline atm. So I went in and explained the situation and they REFUSED to return it! They've said they're keeping it for the full 2 weeks. I told them, it's a work phone, it has confidential stuff on it, it has all my work contacts and is an emergency number for DH on his passport, and as he is in France at the moment I needed that phone back. They just kept repeating that it is policy and they can't return it, I even had the head teacher tell me this! Surely it's against the law! I need that phone and they WILL NOT return it to me! What should I do? Can I get some form of legal action done here? This feels a hell of a lot like theft to me. I'm so beyond angry at them, any advice?

Confiscation for two weeks is like giving out ten detentions for one missed homework.

Which is why I suspect this isn't a first offence.

Which is why I suspect this isn't a first offence.

It would be at my DD's school.

Be thankful. One local school confiscates phones until July . That's first offence, and they will randomly search bags to check for phones and confiscate them.

If this two week rule is not going to help the handing over of phones, why doesn't it stop the pupils bringing the phones in in the forst place?

Because an awful lot of kids and their parents think that having a phone is a human right. Which is fine if the kids can keep their phones off and in their bags. Thing is, it becomes a habit- research in the Times (I think it was anyway) suggested that the average smartphone owner checks their phone, out of habit, once every six minutes. Teenagers genuinely believe they can't manage without doing so, and parents who insist that their child NEEDS a phone don't help. Like others have said, I have had kids get their phones out in lessons to check if their mum has sent them a text or to see if there is an update on their poorly grandmother or pregnant aunt or whatever, and they think this is perfectly justified.

Oh Evil, how I agree with you. This obsession with checking your phone, next time all of you are on the tube or a bus -look around, bet there are 50% plus people peering at their phones.

This sense of entitlement to have the phone on, fgs - if you are a pupil and your parents need to contact you in an emergency they will ring the school and someone will come and get you. Otherwise everytime the mobile rings the pupil will be checking to see if it is an 'emergency'. Its more likely to be one of their friends texting them.

Ban them from schools. My DS is at boarding school. Last year during an exam his phone went off. He said he had forgotten to turn it off. If this was a real exam he would have been asked to leave the room and the exam would be cancelled for him. He wasnt allowed home over the weekend and spent the time litter picking. His phone was taken away for 2 weeks and we have backed the school and put the fear of God into him. He wont do it again. The consequences of him doing what he did before arent worth thinking about!

And what on earth were you doing giving a phone with confidential info to your son who clearly couldnt be trusted to manage it correctly!

Phones should be off in school if course and confiscated until the end if the day if heard.

I don't think you were right to give your child a phone with confidential work details in.

My dd does need her phone at school as she is suffering withPTSD
And calls me at lunch time or when she feels she needs to.

I can't imagine any school holding into a phone for 2 weeks? I would also involve the police.

Involve the police? . In an ideal world they'd give him a clip round the ear for wasting police time.

thebody - whilst I sympathise with your DD, I disagree that she needs her phone. In the olden days (ie when we were all at school), what would a child in such a situation have done? Been given permission to use a school phone, that's what.

I honestly cannot think of a single situation in which a child needs access to their own phone during the school day.

For example, a child at my school has life threatening asthma. If she has the merest hint of an attack, the procedure is well known and well practised - first get a first aider, second send someone to get her older brother, third, call her mum.

Another example - one of our sixth form girls has a baby. If there are any issues with him, his nursery or the girls' foster carer calls the sixth form office and somone goes to find her.

A further example - school play the week before half term. By lunchtime on the day of the tech/dress rehearsals, we knew we wouldn't be finished by the end of the school day, so we sent a message to the school office and they called parents on our behalf.

Another one... a Yr 10 boy began to exhibit signs of stress and his mother was worried. She sent him to school as normal but called the doctor to get an appointment. She then called school reception, and a member of staff came to get him from my lesson to attend for his mum to pick him up.

Kids don't need phones in school.

Oh here we go... People saying of course phones should not be used in school - apart from my child of course who has a reason.... No wonder there is such an issue with phones.

If the body - your DD has such an issue and it is urgent she can call you using the school phone.

And involve the police - fgs - I am sure they have better things to do than this. I bet you will never lend your DS your phone again. The consequences (which are sadly lacking when something goes wrong these days) will ensure that you think twice next time

How would you deal with mobile phones in schools?

• Confiscate until the end of the day (parents informed and have to retrieve the phone)
• 3 strikes = Lunch time detention
• 5 strikes = After school detention
• 10 strikes = Your child is on report
• More than 10 and I'm bringing back corporal punishment as it's obvious that your child needs that little bit extra motivation to remember

maisie your case is different as your DS is at boarding school.

Evil I know that you are a teacher and I usually agree with your point of view, but I can't in this case. I see what you're saying about people being able to cope without mobile phones. I'm older than you and when I was at school if you said you would meet someone under the clock at 8pm then you had to be there. THings are much more fluid nowadays.

I think that the OP swapping her son's phone with hers for the two weeks was perfectly reasonable in this case. You say that your DC is/are 6. He/she is not a teenager. Please come back and speak when your actual DC are teenagers as I think you will have a different point of view then.

I've just seen some further posts with people saying that parents can contact the school office who will get a message to them. I bet that if everyone who now contacts their offspring by mobile, started to ring the office the office would be flooded with messages.

To do without mobile phones would mean turning back the clock. That is not going to happen.

I agree that DC should haev their phones off during the day at school. They definitely do not need them to be on at any time during school time. They can be off and at the bottom of their bag. That's what my DC's school does. If they are caught with a phone I'm not sure what the sanction is as it hasn't happened to my DC, nor their friends, I don't think as i would know what the sanctions are.

the office would be flooded with messages
Not all actually needing to be passed on, surely?
I was never once, in my entire school career, contacted by anybody outside the chocolate building, during school hours. I have had no reason to attempt to contact my own children directly either. Just because we're used to doing something doesn't make it necessary

JudgeJudy - I agree that swapping the phone was the most sensible option here, and the school in question is certainly more heavy handed than my own, where the rule is that phones are kept off and in bags during lessons and if seen/heard are confiscated until the end of the day (first time) or until a parent can come and sign for it (after the first time)

My problem really is with kids (and parents) who think that they are fully entitled to check their phones during lessons - for texts/missed calls/whatever. A mobile phone is not a necessity. I do not have my phone with me in lessons. If my children (they're twins, btw, hence DC who are 6) are ill, their school has to call my school office and a message is brought to me. I taught at the school when pg, and even then didn't feel the need to keep the phone with me.

It's all got a bit out of proportion, IMO, and too many parents feel that their children must have their phones with them at all times.

As a teacher, though, I can say that the proportion of times a phone has been a positive thing against phones as a negative is about 1:10. Lost phones, stolen phones, phones being used to bully, phones being used to video fights, phones being used for sexting etc etc - far more common than a phone being used for an essential/life saving reason.

I agree wholeheatedly with evil there is no reason for pupils to have phones in school. the reason for this thread is because the OP and her son decided that their needs out wieght everybody elses.

Ilovejudyjudy

If parents had to contact their children through the office then maybe they would think alittle more about what they need to tell their kids.

My dd was involved in a fatal crash abroad that also involved most of her teachers ( the ones that survived) and all of her friends.

They have all been receiving help and most are not only physically injured but suffering from PTSD.

Excuse me if I suggest you have no idea what she or we have been through and if she needs to hear my voice in the day or a reassuring text then she does. The school fully support us.

I don't deny that she needs to contact you - my point is that she doesn't need a mobile for that. Given that you have the support of the school, they would, presumably, be happy for her to use any phone within school to contact you whenever she needs to.

YABU phones are not allowed in school. He broke the rules, they confiscated it. If it was that important you shouldn't have given it to him in the first place.

Boney - I think you have summed it up. Parents are fully behind not using mobiles inappropriately - apart from when their DD/DS is caught with it ringing during lessons and for them it is different!

And if parents insist on calling the school office... Well what on earth happened before the explosion of mobiles. Only call the office in an emergency and dont have a sense of entitlement for your children to be made an exception...

What if a teacher started checking their texts, taking calls etc during the lesson. No - I didnt think so...

I agree with Evil. The school are supporting you. Your DD can use the school phone. She doesnt HAVE to have a mobile to contact you should she need to.

It's not legally enforceable.

Go back tell them you have taken advice on this matter and it is not legally enforceable.
You are happy to substitute if for your sons phone and if they do not return it you will report it stolen to the police.

If they still do not return it call the non emergency police number in their front lobby.

evil we wouldnt have permission to use school phone, we would use reverse charges, or the scam that we figured out to get free calls on school payphone

that of course depended on the school having phone boxes

I am afraid it's a bit more complicated than that really ladies.

The crash involved many children and most are still injured so all need support. It wouldn't be feasible to 'use the office phone'

She couldn't get me when she was trapped for hours with other injured and unfortunately a dead teacher so she obviously has issues about contact. Anyway bowing out now as hijacked.

Op I think the school are stepping over the mark