About schools confiscating phones for a fixed period of time

[palebluepalepink]

I’ve no dog in this race, I am genuinely wondering.

I’ve no objection to phones being confiscated or even requiring parents to pick them up, but how can schools legally keep them overnight or until the end of the week? If the parent is paying for it, or if the phone belonged to the parent in the first place, isn’t that theft?

If the school has a jo phone policy then the parents should be working with them to follow it. I’d be annoyed at my child and not the school in these circumstances.

Probably because that is the policy in the school that parents have agreed to and signed up for. Students are surely informed of the rule but continued to flout the rule.

But that’s not what I asked (not being awkward.)

It’s only theft if they intend to permanently deprive a person of their property

But a school policy doesn’t supersede the law, does it?

No it's not. If the rules are no phones in school then when you send your child there you sign up to the set of rules of the school. If you knew the rules and your child has a phone confiscated it's on your child and you as a parent!

Don't like the rules move to a school that has rules that are more to your liking.

I don’t think that’s the case cold, if I took your car and said it’s fine, I’m giving it back to you tomorrow, I think that would still be considered theft.

It’s just the law. The parent who owns the makes the decision to send it into a situation with their child where it might well be confiscated. They can’t then turn around and say, “But that’s mine!” If it’s yours, keep it in your pocket.

*phone

If a child took in a weapon which belonged to a parent and the school took it off them, would you say it was theft?

Not a lawyer but it isn't stealing something if you're taking it for an agreed pre-warned period of time is it?

It’s not QUITE the same thing soon!

I am no legal expert but would imagine that the parents signed up to the school policy at the beginning of their child's school career (or afterwards if it's a new policy) therefore they agreed to their property being confiscated in certain situations. Phones in school cause massive problems so I don't blame them for doing this.

Like I say coconut I’ll try taking someone’s car for an agreed period of time and see how far that argument takes me.

It’s just the law

Really? I thought laws had to be agreed in parliament, there's no way they spend their time discussing school mobile phone policies or do you mean it's the law that it's not theft?

@palebluepalepink

Well what do you think happens when your car is towed? You put your car somewhere it wasn't meant to be and it got taken from you and you have to pay to have it returned. Almost exactly the same situation.

palebluepalepink

If you clamped the car legally you’d be fine, wouldn’t you? This is the law. Schools can confiscate phones. Don’t like it, don’t send it.

Totally agree with this policy, and I wouldn’t consider it theft. If my DC. Rome the phone rules to the point said phone was confiscated then that’s tough. Hopefully they won’t do it twice.

I don’t think that’s the case cold, if I took your car and said it’s fine, I’m giving it back to you tomorrow, I think that would still be considered theft.

Yes, but that's not the same situation. This would be where you and your friend had both agreed, usually in writing, that in certain circumstances you would take the car, whether or not your friend agreed, and then return it after a specified period of time. That's not theft because the owner has agreed to let you do that.

And that's the point with confiscation policies: the parents and children have agreed to them. Often these days, schools will ask for parents to sign those policies to confirm their agreement, but in general it's understood that by sending your child to the school you are consenting to the school policies. There's nothing illegal about it at all.

Really? I thought laws had to be agreed in parliament...

Education and Inspections Act 2006.

Like I say coconut I’ll try taking someone’s car for an agreed period of time and see how far that argument takes me

It's not the same thing, if you'd previously agreed that if you didn't abide by a rule that you had been told about your car would be confiscated it would be comparable. Schools don't unilaterally take phones, they have a communicated policy.

Schools actually have more power than people think.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/674416/Searching_screening_and_confiscation.pdf

I completely understand confiscating until the end of the day or confiscating until a parent comes to collect it. That’s the equivalent of the car being towed. But if you then went to collect your towed car and they refused to give it to you until the end of the week, that would be wrong.

The school is doing this as phones are disruptive and it acts as a deterrent to the child doing it again, as well as deterring other children. Support the school on it.

I wish more parents supported schools and education instead of contesting their policies.

Also if you're interested in the actual government legal advice you can check here.

School staff can seize any prohibited item found as a result of a search. They can
also seize any item, they consider harmful or detrimental to school discipline.

However pupils' rights to privacy should be respected while the phone is confiscated. Legally the school isn't responsible though if it gets damaged or stolen while confiscated.