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.

I have no issue with phones - I provided my child with a cheap but effective phone for safety purposes. He had a more expensive one for social/other use at home.
My objection is that it was difficult for him to concentrate on his work at school with all the drama going on between students on their phone.
As for the "help with the study" by having the phone, students would hide the phone behind their reading book instead of reading their book.etc or go on a study site then on the site of their choice. Or ring their parent, then on the site of their choice.
Glad I sound a bit hysterical, better than still ridden with anxiety, and fear for my Childs health which was happening at the time, knowing that he wasn't eating all day and worried about him. At least he is spared that now.

Some children require a phone on them, such as children with diabetes who need them as a receiver for a Continuous Glucose Monitor.

Other than that - journey to and from school, yes. In school, no.

Bravo to the schools that confiscate and deal with this appropriately. However isn't it just a matter of time till some smartarse parent (or teenager) comes up with the 'breach of human rights' malarkey?

I used to teach high school kids and it was hard enough without mobiles ...

OP your focus is still on the phones when it should be on the school. It sounds like an awful school which is massively failing not just your DS, but every child they have. Of course you were right to take him out, there is no doubt about that.

Gingham it sounds easy - confiscate - in practice I think it's actually quite difficult as a rule to enforce. Much easier to allow them to have their phones but not in lessons.

I had a year 7 class on Friday. A phone beeped. A year ago everyone would have ignored it: on Friday there were gasps and squeals and the offender making a huge deal of forgetting to switch his phone on silent and me having to confiscate it and being argued with and eventually handing it over but insisting on switching it off first and all in all losing a LOT more lesson time!

The problems the OP is mentioning are not caused by phones. Nothing should be hidden by a book (I demand they are flat on tables). If a phone goes off in class it is confiscated and taken to the office.
However, we don't have enough computers in the school. And we don't have enough text books for the students to take them home. I have therefore, on occasion, let them take photos of the text book with their phone and asked them to email it to those without camera phones.
I'd rather have enough text books and computers; but that isn't going to happen.

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?

It wouldn't make sense with a question mark. My point is, you didn't frame a question. Did you mean, 'Can phones can be used as part of teaching and learning?'; or 'Does allowing children to have their phones in school lead to more bullying?'; or 'Does a ban on phones lead to better exam outcomes?'; or 'Do children who are trusted to use their phones responsibility have more successful lives?'; or simply 'Should we ban phones or not?'? Or all of them? Or something else?

Wow. Another teaching bashing thread. Is it Christmas already?
Policies can be changed if this is backed by the school and supportive parents.
I'm guessing you're not aware of the parents constantly on their phones at school events, phoning their children during lesson time, phoning the school to complain if a phone is completely confiscated. This starts at home, not with the school and the teachers.

"'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' really is a sad state of affairs if this is true"

itsmine sadly it is true. I have pm'd you details rather than clutter up this thread.

multivac: I meant precisely what I said. There is a question under discussion on the thread and I referred to it, correctly. If you didn't understand then sorry about that.

See, my point is being with the semantics of the OPs thread title and posters talking about 'phones'.

So here is a question for all the posters who like their DCs having phones so that they can contact them for safety reasons...

Do they have to have smartphones? Very powerful computers that give them largely unlimited access to the WWW. Or would movile phones that just make calls (and they do exist) be better?

*mobile not movile

The problem is that for every parent that says one thing, another will be along to say complain the opposite.

Kitty of course a brick would do. But bricks are dying technology. It will not be long before they are not available any longer. No point railing against the dangers of smartphones, they are already the norm and soon bricks will go the way of the dinosaurs.

I do think there is a point to be made about smartphone competitiveness - some children do get caught up in who has the 'best' phone. But that is down to parents teaching their children about consumerism. My DDs have cheap Android phones because that is what suits our family budget and meets our needs. They know I am not spending £££ on the latest iPhone or exploding Samsung toy.

Well, trifle, if you were referring to the title of the thread, 'Should phones be banned in schools', your response seems to be a) yes, definitely and, simultaneously, b) we need some research. But then, when schools are actively engaged in research, you don't seem to think that counts. It is a little confusing for a reader, to be fair.

The vat majority of my students now bring an 'internet device' into the classroon, as the school ecourages this (for 14/15 year olds and above)

It just makes so much sense. Yes they do occasionally pass messages, in the same way we passed notes around the class when I was at school. Yes there are some students looking at stuff other than what they have been directed towards.

But generally the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, in my opinion (and I am a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to technology).

I think that some posters are being a little narrow minded as to what can be acheived in the class if students are allowed to explore beyond the 4 walls during class time.

booklooker

The problem is that the alleged benefits have a different weighting in each school.

I don't understand why kids having the phones is the problem when distracting other kids. Surely it's just talking or messing about in class that caused the issue not a phone?

itsbetterthanabox

From my experiences with this is the add ons that take the time.
"I'm just finishing"
"I need to turn it off"
"you can't take it its mine"
"I'm putting it away" Whilst still using it.
Its almost like they are surgically attached to the phone.

Having said that there are times when phones have been very useful.