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?

Keeping a phone is usually only done after at least 2 other phone confiscations.

In our school first phone offense = taken for day and returned.
Second = parents have to collect. Conversations are had.
Third = lost for the week. They are in sealed bags in a safe.

They are banned in school hours. The policy is clear, and parents are aware of it.

Reason? Libellous, revolting Instagram accounts made by pupils within school about teachers. Upskirting of girls.

Op: AIBU?

Mumsnet: (unanimously) yes

Op: but, but, but...

This is actually so annoying - you agree to it so it's not theft. Needed for travel? Then don't have it turned om in school, simples. Strangely we all manages without them once upon a time. They are incredibly distracting and antisocial, I'd be thrilled my child was prohibited from using them from 9-4, it's an advantage! The reason it's been increased from a day is because the students are willing to take the chance on the end of day rule. It was taken at the locker because it's a blanket rule to ensure fairness.

The school would assume as a parent you would support them. They are acting in loco parentis by confiscating the phone like you might confiscate it yourself from your child. If you contacted the police etc there would be no legal support for the school and they would just hand it back. It's about parents giving the school permission to discipline their child.

We are all in this together remember.

Makes me laugh how people will undergo any degree of mental contortion to avoid the idea that something undesirable that happens might actually be their own fault.

Soontobe60's link isn't just about searching, OP:

"Where a member of staff finds an item which is banned under the school rules they should take into account all relevant circumstances and use their professional judgement to decide whether to return it to its owner, retain it or dispose of it."

Also "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."

Lawyer here :) it's not theft as previous posters said. Parents sign a behaviour agreement along with their child at the beginning of the year, or maybe just year 7.

It's not theft without the mens rea of permanent deprivation

And yes if you took a friends car for a week and said it's only for a week and they had signed their consent to said terms you would, naturally, be absolutely fine ...

confistication is one thing giraffe, refusing to hand it back at all is another

They aren't refusing to give it back, confiscation by definition means it's for a period of time, there's no set period. Do you have an example of a school refusing to give a phone back?

OP if you took someone's car for an AGREED period of time, what would be the problem with that? It has been agreed... that is the point. School policy is normally that they will keep phone until a parent collects and everyone had agreed this. You can collect same day if you want to. Me...I used to stretch out out for a while as a lesson to my daughter.

confistication is one thing giraffe, refusing to hand it back at all is another.

They're not refusing to hand it back. The child will get it back at the end of the week, as per the policy.

Maybe try following the rules instead of clutching at loopholes in "the law" and teach your child to do the same. Schools have enough to do without this nonsense.

At the school where I worked, the parents and students had to sign a "home school agreement" at the front of the student planner at the start of term. It detailed things like no phone policies, uniform policies, rights and responsibilities of the school and of parents. The penalties were clearly laid out so I guess if the parents have signed that, they have no recourse. Also they arent stopping the parents from coming to collect the phone so if the parents are proactive there would be no need for the phone to be kept overnight.

That’s mostly about searching soon

Nope, it's about searching and confiscating. The individual schools will have a policy which details confiscation.

The school would assume as a parent you would support them

Slightly OT but ime a school that assumes parents will support all their disciplinary measures probaly isn't any state school in England, there are numerous parents who are quite sure their little darling doesn't deserve any kind of punishment and is above the rules

Thank you for clarifying @jellybean. As a parent of of two teens I'm delighted that their school has a strict phone policy for the reasons a pp stated. If my two got their phone out in school I would fully support the school removing it. Pupils don't need phones in school, if they need to make an urgent call home then that's what the school office / head of department can help with.

Well, I disagree but I see I’m in a minority

So pale do you agree it's all fair and reasonable now?

Sorry OP you are just plain wrong on this one. The contract between parent and school will set out that a phone is confiscated until the end of the week, so to hand it over sooner, even to the parent would be breaking that contract. The only way this would become theft is if the parents removed the child from the school (and so the child was no longer on roll) and they refused to hand it over. It's not really about theft its contracts. A parallel would be most people are paid in arrears....technically you could argue that a company should pay daily for work done, but you agree when you sign the contract that monies earnt will be retained until a specific day usually monthly when you will be paid.

As a side note on theft, the police will confiscate things including mobile phones for an indefinite period of time if they think they might be of use....

"Well I disagree"

Ask your mum if you can change schools then

Ha, X post, what's to disagree on? Rule has been agreed on.

Well, I disagree but I see I’m in a minority

But do you accept now that it isn’t theft?

At my children’s school it’s 5 days which I think is unacceptable and I’d be going in. Thankfully I’ve not needed to yet. Maybe 24hrs but 5 days. And children walking home through the woods with no phone, I’m not happy with that.

Lol jellybean

Darbs76

Going in and what? If it’s 5 days they don’t have to give it back to you after 1 day (so you can give it back to the child!) any more than they have to give it to your child. If you can’t help your child see that having their phone out at school is unacceptable, how is giving it back to you going to help?

Ask your mum if you can change schools then