Teachers should ban the use of smart phones in school

[viridus]

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.

Maybe you need to work on your comprehension skills

HAHAHA please tell me you are not a teacher, and that's not what you answer pupils/ your children when you are not clear

Funny.

aquabluepool: It may have worked for you. That doesn't mean it worked for everyone. Has the Head explained the reasoning behind the change?

So different people believe different things can work basically isn't it :) doesn't mean I'm right and you're wrong or vice versa. Just see it differently. My own opinion is that by enforcing an inflexible and draconian rule you're setting yourself up for endless battles.

Given that we live in an age where very many children have two working parents, a complete ban on phones on school premises is just not workable - children need to be able to contact their parents if something goes wrong on the way to/from school, especially if they have a longish journey.

I think it's up to schools to work out how to manage phones - ours allows them, they have to be switched off in lessons, may be used during breaks and lunch. Confiscation and detention if phone is on/used when it shouldn't be. It works well because the school is good on behaviour in general.

What matters is the culture of the school - are they tough on behaviour, tough on bullying, setting high standards for everything? If they are, then they will have a handle on managing phones. Phones themselves are not the issue here.

I think that's a good, sensible post, pointythings

I work in a school and they are not allowed to use any personal devices on school grounds. They all still have them of course, but they should not be out of their bags in school, even at lunch or break. If we see them we have to confiscate and hand them to the Head.
The reason for this is that it reduces the chance of on-line bullying in school, and makes lessons more about teaching than about getting the students' attention away from games or facebook.
On the whole it's a good thing IMO, but there are downsides. For instance, there was once a really useful resource, produced in the form of a book, which is now only available online. Without a phone to access it, it's unusable.

aquabluepool: Yes, currently it is a matter of opinion. But objectively speaking, it isn't - phones will, on some level, either enhance or hinder education, and this could be interrogated much better if looked at across the system. Once we had evidence we could either say, "Look, phones are brilliant provided they are used in X ways" or "Look, even when you try to use phones in X ways they have a detrimental effect overall".

children need to be able to contact their parents if something goes wrong on the way to/from school, especially if they have a longish journey.

Little children should be accompanied to school. Older children can get help in an emergency from an adult. It really isn't that necessary for children to have mobile phones. I have no issue with policies that allow phones in schools as long as they aren't seen, but I do experience a sense of about this argument that most children 'need' to carry a phone for safety. There will be some children who have a particularly long journey to school who may need a phone but most would be absolutely fine without one, and in a true emergency like a violent attack it is unlikely to help them to have a phone anyway. It would probably just get nicked.

I was suggesting that the only way to know the answer to this question of phones is to conduct proper research

'this question of phones' isn't a question, though, is it?

If it makes you feel better, the school I'm talking about has been part of a national research project about technology for teaching and learning for around seven years now. And as I say, outcomes are improving year on year - as is the children's experience of learning.

HAHAHA please tell me you are not a teacher, and that's not what you answer pupils/ your children when you are not clear

I did not realise you consider yourself to be one of my pupils.

multivax: Why isn't it a question?

And yes, this:

What matters is the culture of the school - are they tough on behaviour, tough on bullying, setting high standards for everything? If they are, then they will have a handle on managing phones. Phones themselves are not the issue here.

is absolutely key.

multivax: Why isn't it a question?

Erm, "this question of phones" isn't, in itself, a question.

Trifle my DDs manage their social lives through their phones. As their mum, I'd quite like to know if they are going to go to their friends' house after school and will be home late. If they have their mobile in their bag, that is easy for them to do. Without it - not so much.

If they ever abuse the privilege of having their phone physically on their person, the school will come down on them. That is the reasonable way to handle phones, not blanket bans because of what some people might do with their phones. If our school - very mixed catchment, not leafy - can manage phone discipline, all schools should be able to.

multivac: Seriously, you don't understand what I mean by 'the question of X' unless there is a question mark? Are you being anal or do you need explanatory notes?

pointythings: At least you're honest that your priority is their social lives. Most parents pretend it is a safety thing.

I mean this nicely but as an educational issue, I think we should look at it without reference to your kids' social lives. I am more interested in whether the presence of phones in schools enhances or compromises education

I took my child out in the last year of his school life because of an unresolved bullying issue. Unfortunately there are many, many parents who do this. Especially as the schools are now becoming academies who think they are mini despots and have control over their finances.
The phone issue and how they dealt with it are symptomatic of how they deal with bullying - chaotic
I am slowly trying to go down the complaints route. The governors have not responded by saying that because I have now taken them out of school they can no longer comment on my concerns.

One of the reasons my school went with a ban was because of research indicating there was a link with improved results.

Trifle I think at my DDs' school it isn't either. Phones are not used to access the internet in lessons because they are - well - banned. Bullying is handled very firmly indeed, whether cyber or otherwise - DD1 has had personal and very positive experience of how this is done. So for our school, phones are probably neutral in their effect. As I have said before, it depends on the culture of the school across the board - if they are effective in managing behaviour, bullying and academics, then it is unlikely that the presence or absence of phones will be much of a factor. Some research would be nice, though.

As for your rather dismissive attitude towards my post about my DDs' social lives - there is a safety implication in them telling me where they are going to be and me knowing when to expect them home.

OP - our school is an academy. They are not all the same.

pointythings: I don't mean to be rude about your kids. I'm sure their social lives are important to them and to you. That's fine. But it's not what school leaders should be taking into consideration. Safety should absolutely be a consideration - if an 'out of sight' policy works, it is fine by me. But if it doesn't work, I don't believe 'safety' trumps everything else because I think the argument is exaggerated.

My three DDs have been to two different secondary schools. Both have had the policy that phones are OK to have, but must be turned off in lessons. If a phone goes off during a lesson it is confiscated and not given back until the end of the lesson.

DD1's school was a grammar school about 20 miles from here. Things like buses not turning up or breaking down on the way certainly did happen so she needed a phone.

By the time her younger sisters got to secondary school I knew I could hardly have let DD1 have a phone but not them. They have to abide by the school rules or face the consequences. That is absolutely that.

It does sometimes work the other way too though, and my children all went on some school trips where the staff supervising the trip wanted their mobile numbers before letting them go off in their groups.

One trip where they needed their phones was when DD2's PE class got to go to the London 2012 Olympics. They were allowed to go off around the Olympic Park in small groups and staff could and did use mobiles to both keep in contact with them, and to allow them to call agreed teachers if they had any problems.

I think that allowing mobile phones turned off is fine. (Like adults do at work) Kids know what their friends use as phones as they see them outside of school. Jamming signals won't prevent video and photo being taken. There's always been envy about shoes or other material objects.

Trifle a sizeable proportion of children at my DDs' school have a long journey - we are quite rural, public transport is patchy, school buses are fallible. I believe for these reasons an 'out of sight' policy is the best thing and at my DD's school it is properly enforced. As I have said before, if our school can do it, why can't other schools? All this agonising about total bans just isn't necessary. I also have to say that I found the OP's original post a bit hysterical in tone and I speak as the parent of one DD who was badly bullied. Clearly the OP's school handles bullying poorly and refuses to take responsibility - but the fault here is with the school, not with phones.