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Original poster

Teachers should ban the use of smart phones in school

144 replies

viridus · 10/12/2016 12:00

Schools are so hypocritical, they say that phones are only used at lunchtimes, but allow them to be used in class.
Education is becoming corrupt and education and fairness has gone. Children who have cheap phones see this and are ridiculed. Teachers stand by allowing these things to happen. After all, it is also them who allow bullying to continue too.

OP posts:
MerylPeril · 10/12/2016 13:45

Banned at school I work at. If you are seen with it, it gets taken off you and a parent has to pick it up.
Sometimes they are kept for days - I know there is one in the safe for the weekend. They learn quickly it's not worth it.
Children who HAVE to have one to and from school are encouraged to keep it in the office (away from temptation)

booklooker · 10/12/2016 13:48

A lot of my students have electronic versions of their text book on their phones.

This means that they do not have to carry around a huge bag of books that weigh a ton (possibly causing long term back problems), and also that they never claim to have 'forgotten' their book.

Yes, it is true that sometimes students abuse this access by texting or whatever, but I think the positives out weigh the negatives.

lottieandmia · 10/12/2016 13:48

I have a 12 year old at a school where mobile phones are forbidden at all times during the school day. If the children need their phones they sign them into student services before registration.

Reality16 · 10/12/2016 13:53

The death threat thing is ridiculous and nothing to do with mobile phones, if it wasn't by phone the bully would have used another way.

Out high school not only allows but actively encourages mobile phones in school. They are trialling some new course work that is based online, kids have been given tablets but are also allowed to access by mobile phone. Teachers have also be trialling phones being allowed in class when working alone as they think they will actually get MORE productivity by dropping the unenforceable ban. So far it really does seem to be working. They are a forward thinking school and I supported the approach when they asked for parental input.

booklooker · 10/12/2016 13:57

Reality16

Yours sounds like a school that is acknowledging the present and looking to the future rather than the rather reactionary dwelling in the past

multivac · 10/12/2016 14:01

Similar situation here, reality. Our boys might use their phones in the classroom to video a science practical; or pop in earbuds and listen to music while getting on with a maths worksheet or some art - all with permission, of course; if it's refused, that's fine. Everyone is given an iPad, so there's no issue about gadget-envy. The school's policy is essentially, 'don't be an arse'.

dingdongthewitchishere · 10/12/2016 14:02

I fail to see how accessing a text book on your phone is an improvement. I could understand a tablet, but a tiny smartphone sounds ridiculous.

We don't have enough schools, classrooms are expanding, and 1 teacher has to deal with more and more students. Encouraging to study online is hardly an improvement, it's only a way to cut costs. Kids who are being taught that being on their mobile whilst "working" will have a nasty surprise when they enter the real world and get a job.

Trifleorbust · 10/12/2016 14:02

Reality16: It sounds like a lovely experiment, but I think we would need to see the results (outcomes) and work out whether those results could be extrapolated to apply to other educational settings. Progress for the sake of progress and all that.

multivac · 10/12/2016 14:12

70% A-C in our case, trifle*, with a properly comprehensive intake. Very low levels of poor behaviour.

multivac · 10/12/2016 14:13

(A*-C M/E, that is)

Reality16 · 10/12/2016 14:13

Like I said, they HAVE tablets. Access on the phone is just an added extra. It can be very helpful actually. The other week DS and I were on a 2 hour train trip so he brought his jotter and used his phone to access the physics work so he didn't have to carry the tablet about all day. It's not ridiculous to have phone access as an extension, it's rather clever.

Reality16 · 10/12/2016 14:14

Reality16: It sounds like a lovely experiment, but I think we would need to see the results (outcomes) and work out whether those results could be extrapolated to apply to other educational settings.. Well yes, that's the whole point of them trialling it

Reality16 · 10/12/2016 14:17

Encouraging to study online is hardly an improvement I can't ever see how that makes sense. Online is where everything is. My kids are going to access information much faster using their phone whilst sat in their bedrooms than they ever would have if they had to shower, get dress, go to the library and hope for a book to tell them what they wanted to know.

Online is the future.

WyfOfBathe · 10/12/2016 14:18

I'm a teacher. Students can have their phones in school, as long as they're turned off and in their bags. Detention if you get your phone out without permission (sixth form are allowed to use theirs in their own common area, other students can't use them at all). It's very rare that kids get their phones out in class without permission.

I sometimes let my sixth formers use their phones in class for research, or accessing texts online, or interactive quizzes, because we simply don't have enough computers for one each. If anyone doesn't have a smart phone or just doesn't want to use their data, they can borrow a laptop or work in groups.

But surely if phones were banned there would be no death threat in school hours?
I think she was making the point that somebody brought a phone in despite the ban, but because they're technically "banned" the school are saying it was impossible for that to happen.

Trifleorbust · 10/12/2016 14:20

But surely if phones were banned there would be no death threat in school hours

Ah, I see. Still not a good reason to allow them. The fewer phones, the fewer death threats

Trifleorbust · 10/12/2016 14:21

Reality16: I get that. I am just pointing out that the results are as yet unknown so calling them 'forward thinking' may be precipitate. They may just be misguided. We will see.

multivac · 10/12/2016 14:21

The fewer phones, the fewer death threats

That's hilarious.

WyfOfBathe · 10/12/2016 14:21

And if we're comparing exam results, 78% A*-C inc. maths & English (also a comp). Maybe we're not damaging our students so much by allowing them to access information Hmm

dingdongthewitchishere · 10/12/2016 14:23

Online is the future

Technically online is the present.

I am not talking about denying access to computers and internet to pupils, we are talking about mobile phones, that kids use for taking photos, snap chat and random social activities, not so much for studying.

You are mixing 2 entirely different concepts. There's a huge difference between my kids doing homework on a computer in our living room where adults can see the screen, and them being on their mobile phone all night chatting with their friends.

Allowing kids to access internet at school, and teaching them that everything you see on them is not real is not a bad thing (see MN threads with no link to RL whatsoever). Nothing to do with having kids with the nose on their phone all day.

Trifleorbust · 10/12/2016 14:23

multivac: Glad to hear it. That doesn't mean that without the phones it wouldn't be 80% though. This really needs looking into without the assumptions - I don't think there has been any large scale study on the issue and I think that would be valuable.

Trifleorbust · 10/12/2016 14:25

But my first school was a no phones school (at all) - again, a comprehensive and again excellent results (90%ish A-C EM). You can't just look at individual examples; you have to look at the impact of phone use in isolation from other factors.

booklooker · 10/12/2016 14:25

I fail to see how accessing a text book on your phone is an improvement.

I thought I had pointed that out in my post.

Should I refer you back to it, or are your IT skills up to finding it and actually reading it

multivac · 10/12/2016 14:27

Actually, trifle, results are improving year on year, with a rigorously academic curriculum (everyone takes three sciences, and a language) And it's not just about results. Behaviour is excellent. Bullying is rare. Engagement is superb.

It's not the kind of school you'd like to work in, I expect; that really is fine by me!

ProfYaffle · 10/12/2016 14:27

Our school of 1200 pupils has a 'hand it in to reception' rule. Use of phones is banned on school property until 4pm, phones confiscated if anyone's caught using them. What happens in reality is that hardly anyone actually hands them in, they tend to stay in bags switched off and get brought out on the way home.

Cherrysoup · 10/12/2016 14:31

Really? Seriously? I can't give every child an iPad or laptop in class, but they can use the websites I recommend on their phones. They use them to practise key words, the leaderboard allows me to track their usage/time spent when I set it for homework. For sixth form, I found it essential.

In my current school, phones are banned and we have no issues at all. I allowed a Year 11 girl in a revision session to phone her mum to organise collecting her, handy as mum wanted to talk to me about an issue her son (he's in my form) was having in another lesson. Saved me time and reassured mum.