To be unhappy my child's phone was confiscated?

[Phoneproblems]

I have no issues with the phone itself being confiscated but apparently it is only to be returned on Friday - surely this cannot be right?

sweeneytoddsrazor that really made me laugh!!!

I would argue that an 11 year old without sn should be resilient enough to deal with not having a mobile phone. They can ask to call a parent from a school phone if necessary. Most schools have the ability to send texts to parents/carers also. If your child can’t cope without a phone for a couple of days what kind of special snowflake are you raising?

Eleven year olds don’t need smartphones and they don’t need to be taking photographs of other children in lunchbreaks and they don’t need in fact they shouldn’t be on social media as the vast, vast majority of them are not mature enough to deal with it.

My DS never got a smartphone until he went to secondary, before that he had a normal brick type phone to make calls if he needed to, and more to get him used to the idea of having a phone.

At secondary if phones are confiscated they have to be collected by a parent. If my DC got his phone confiscated I would hit the roof, and more to the point I would collect it at my convenience. That might be the end of the week depending on when it was convenient. He wouldn’t do it again though.

In both my DS’ primary and secondary schools there have been instances of children taking naked photographs of themselves and each other and sending them around to others. This hasn’t been about being pressured into doing so at primary, the incidents in primary were girls taking pictures of themselves and each other naked in the toilets and sending them to each other for a laugh because they could.

In secondary it was a bit more than that, but on both occasions it is worth noting that it is illegal to send a naked picture to someone else under the age of eighteen, even if that picture is of yourself.

Eleven year olds think it’s funny. Teenagers are becoming sexually active and doing so often has other implications.

From the reading of this thread I have absolutely no idea how I managed to successfully get myself to and from school on public transport for over an hour each day for 6 years (I got a mobile phone towards the end of year 12) I think I probably deserve a medal. What a brave little soldier I was.

Sheesh, it's a phone. Not ruddy life support.

If an urgent message needs passing on then ring the school office, and it'll be passed on.

You know. Like what happens in the olden days before mobiles.

School rules YOU agreed to uphold when your child started school.

Accept them and back up the school, and tell your kidto duck it up, buttercup, that's the rules.

Alternativrly, just reinforce your child's thinking that they're mummy's special little soldier by moving them to a school with different rules.

Our school used to have a policy that if caught wth a phone at all during school hours or whilst on the school premises they’d take it for the rest of the week, I think it’s fairly standard. Usually though if a parent came in to collect the phone then they’d be happy to give it back, they just knew most kids wouldn't want to actually admit to parents they’d had it taken. It worked though and the only reason they got rid of the rule is because phones now are more expensive and also constantly glued to kids hands so parents were noticing they didn’t have them and kicking off.

Basically my point is, I doubt it’s illegal as they intend to give it back after the set time, it’s fairly standard and if you’re bother about it you can go in and see if they’ll give it to you.

I'm going to go against the grain here.

There are people who ask "how did kids make it home safely before mobile phones", roll eyes lol.

The fact is a number of them didn't but might have done if they'd had a mobile in their possession that would have allowed them to call 999.

It may well be a statistically low risk but I don't think that would be of any comfort to the families whose child never came home because of a sick criminal or a serious accident where a phone call to the police/ambulance may have saved the child.

This is only my personal opinion but I believe mobile phones are a modern safety device and should not be confiscated. Surely adults can come up with alternative punishments for inappropriate use other than the lazy option of taking away a potential lifeline.

Dds school would be more forgiving about updating social media in a lesson than they would about pupils using the camera.

It isn't just that taking photos and posting them can make bullying far worse. Even a situation where there is no bullying, such as amusement from all concerned cos jack tripped up, can soon become humiliating if shared online. More importantly there will be pupils in every school for whom even the most innocently shared photo could be catastrophic.

I would worry if I was in work, with no idea if dd had got home ok if she had no phone. We don't have the best public transport and the walk after isn't exactly busy. However if school confiscated her phone I would be using her future spends to buy the most basic brick. Not whining that mummy owns the smart phone and poor pfb can do what she likes with it.

If your child genuinely needs the phone to make it to/from school safely then the school will (most likely) allow it to be returned provided it is handed back in. However, they are allowed to confiscate it and the inconvenience for parents isn't really a consideration - it has to be a genuine safety concern.

I also think it is important to note that taking photographs of other children in school is a big issue. I taught a child who couldn't be in any photographs at all and even staff weren't told the reasons, so I doubt any children were aware of it. The blanket bans are in place for the safety AND privacy of vulnerable children.

Finally, this is a consequence of your DC breaking the school rule. It is a common rule and the school are doing nothing wrong by enforcing it, provided the lack of phone does not constitute a genuine safety concern.

If you went and got the phone, claiming it’s “yours”, would you just give it back to your child?

It’s not really yours at all anyway is it?

Did you sign a home school agreement in September? Did you read any of those boring letter school sent you about such things? Your child was deliberately flouting the rules and knew the consequences. No wonder kids are such brats if they know they can do what they want, breach serious rules designed to prevent bullying and safeguarding issues and run off to moan to mummy.

Giving the phone back at the end of the day isn’t a punishment from being caught at lunchtime. One hour without it when they would have been in class anyway. Feel free to go into school and be that parent.

@SaltyPeanut, but against that you could put all the kids who got home unscathed compared to all the kids who get mugged on the way home for their phones.

It’s a long shot but if someone misplaced the phone or it was stolen (say a break in for example which can and does happen in schools) then would they be liable to replace it?

No they wouldn't. The legislation exempts them from liability.

@Mousefunky - probably not

From DoE advice to heads, staff and governors on searching, screening and confiscation

• Staff have a defence to any complaint or other action brought against them. The law protects members of staff from liability in any proceedings brought against them for any loss of, or damage to, any item they have confiscated, provided they acted lawfully.

No doubt your dc is aware of the rules regarding mobile phones in schools. No doubt she and others have been warned in the past. You won’t like this but I am sure you are being given an edited version of events surrounding the incident.

If you only knew the hassle inappropriate use of mobile phones cause in schools perhaps you would appreciate the action that has been taken. If inappropriate photos had been taken and distributed you would be the first to complain.

I suggest you support the school in its action, but maybe you could visit school and politely ask for it to be returned to you, reassuring them that you would be having a firm word with your dc, perhaps even not allowing him/her to have it back until the weekend. A lesson will be learnt and your dc will also realise that rules mean rules and that you are also not a pushover.

We live a long way from the school and ds uses the phone to contact me about arrangements for getting home etc... Schools should be mindful of this when setting up punishments.

Or your child could be mindful of the concept of doing as he is told.

but since it was lunchtime and it was handed over apologetically I think that's enough.

Yes, but fortunately it's not up to you what the school rules are. I'd have had more sympathy had your child been responding to, say, an urgent text from you about pick-up, but taking photos??!! Teachers could/would be under a disciplinary for doing that, so why should pupils be excused?

Oh, I love you folks who think that 11 year olds dont "need" a mobile phone, one day the whole network will go down through overuse, then we shall see!!!Page 6 is the best!!!

I'm not seeing why a mobile can't be used on their lunch break?

Do they not have enough hours after school and during the night when they can use their phones? Do you not think that there may be some modest minor benefit to children actually using free time during the school day to speak to each other? Using their actual voices?

Are we all ignoring the fact that bullying was going on way way before phones came along??

Of course there was bullying. But not bullying someone by sending messages, taking photos, filming them, posting pictures online.
Can you not see how that is different?

Oh if some of you knew what some secondary pupils do on their phones, you’d never want them to have them.

Urgh ‘authority’

Why has every body got to act like little drones on here?

op you bought that phone - if you want it back - go and get it

Jesus. Are you 9?

Those who are surprised that they can't use their phones at lunchtime - why on earth do they need to use their phones at lunchtime? Aren't you bothered that some kids, presumably yours, spend every fucking waking moment they possibly can on their phone? Maybe they could, you know, talk to their mates or something outrageous like that.

And have you NO idea how social media works either? Or maybe you think it's perfectly ok for kids to be recording other kids without their knowledge being the butt of some 'jolly jape' and posted on Instagram or Snapchat. Of course, I'm sure none of those people who think their little precious should be superglued to their phone think they would do anything like that ...

Worra I think some parents believe their kids only need them to touch base with friends and call mummy and daddy for a lift home.
Some kids are a PITA with their phones and they cause such trouble.
TBH if my child was misbehaving at school with his phone I would be tempted to not only leave it at school all week but also have a ban at home too! (Unless they were really sorry and assured me they wouldn't be twatting about on their phone at school again.)

I love all these people saying how they would march down to school and insist on the phone being given back.

"No. School policy is that the phone will be given back at the end of the week."

What's the next step?

I’d ban all phones except a basic brick for texts and messages.