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Original poster

Ban on mobile phones in schools

249 replies

bytheby · 29/06/2021 07:55

Gavin Williams has proposed this and announced a 6 week consultation. Does anyone know how we can feed into the consultation?

I am in favour. In fact I don't think children/teens need phones at all. If people are worried about safety walking home then there should be a simple phone with a map function and ability to call available.

I am a sensible adult and I find it difficult to control my own mobile phone use so how can we expect children to.

Children accessing porn. Children unable to 'switch off'/addicted to screens. Children being contacted by older strangers. Children having unrealistic images of how they 'should' look pushed onto them by social media. Children unable to escape school bullying (or just a break from their peers) at home. Children losing the ability to converse. Children more anxious than ever. etc etc.

If your childhood was pre mobile phones do you think it honestly would have been improved by having one?!

Anyway, if anyone knows how to become a part of the consultation please let me know! I have googled to no avail.

OP posts:
Bitofachinwag · 29/06/2021 11:01

@HarebrightCedarmoon

No way. Why should politicians make blanket decisions of this nature? Leave it up to individual headteachers.

Butt out Williams, you utter, utter fuckwit. Over my dead body on this issue.

Why is it so important to you that children can use their phones as they please during the school day?
HarebrightCedarmoon · 29/06/2021 11:04

Why is it so important to you that children can use their phones as they please during the school day?

It isn't. It's important to me that schools, parents and teachers have the ultimate say on their own school's mobile phone policy, not Gavin How Can We Best Fuck up the Exams Every Year Williamson.

Bitofachinwag · 29/06/2021 11:05

in flight mode during lessons etc which seems to be well respected. Also, our kids need to be more tech savvy than we were at that age due to the world they will be entering into as adults.

But....
....you don't need unrestricted phone use during the school day to become tech savvy.

....a lot of adults grew up with no tech and still manage to be tech savvy (including the ones that invented it in the first place.

...current technology will have changed by the time children enter the work force.

Topseyt · 29/06/2021 11:07

@Jackofallsorts

"Bollocks. All the phones my teenagers had had their own numbers and were registered to me. Most phones for children are in that category as the contract will mostly be in the parent's name."

And that should be against the law.

No it shouldn't. I can have as many phones and phone numbers as I like for myself. I chose to have some for the use of my teenagers and in the very unlikely event of there ever being a law against that I wouldn't comply.
Starlightstarbright1 · 29/06/2021 11:10

@Freckers

Terrible idea as a blanket ban, DS's phone is is homework diary, bus ticket, dinner menu and purchase. Not to mention he attends a school a little bit outside his catchment area so if there's an issue with the school bus the phone is also valuable.

His school have rules on being in flight mode during lessons etc which seems to be well respected. Also, our kids need to be more tech savvy than we were at that age due to the world they will be entering into as adults.

Actually yes our local bus i payment s on an app although my ds walks
YoutubeZoom · 29/06/2021 11:18

@Bitofachinwag It is quite full on. For the teachers as well.

@Jackofallsorts The teachers do not message the children on their phone like on WhatsApp. They use Microsoft Teams. It is all transparent and they mostly message a group of them together, e.g. a certain class or rugby team or people who did not submit chemistry homework.

YoutubeZoom · 29/06/2021 11:45

There is also a Lost Property channel on Teams.

Jackofallsorts · 29/06/2021 12:20

@YoutubeZoom so without MS Teams teachers would not be able to communicate to their students about activists and homework? Isn't Teams on laptops anyway?
I understand the point you're making that it's convenient for teachers but it's not a valid excuse in my books. They should find alternative methods of communicating.

FightingtheFoo · 29/06/2021 12:35

YANBU. I think smartphones should be banned for under 16s. They can have a Nokia type phone that just calls and texts before then.

canigooutyet · 29/06/2021 16:11

Yup lets take away smart phones for under 16's and fuck the SEN kids that use them to help them access their environment.

canigooutyet · 29/06/2021 16:13

@Jackofallsorts

I'd go a step further and ban under 16s from having a unique phone number. They can have access to their parents if they want to but are unable to register for a number.
Can the under 16's have their own mobile? Or do you mean that they can only have access when in the company of their parent?
Aroundtheworldin80moves · 29/06/2021 16:17

I'm intrigued how you can ban U16s having a phone when all you need to do to get a phone is walk into the supermarket, buy a handset and a SIM card, and away you go....

No registration required. You can have as many ad you want. You can change it daily.

canigooutyet · 29/06/2021 16:45

They would end up on the require ID list, which would still be pointless as it still wouldn't require registration.

Don't know about others, but I would rather my child has a phone that I am aware of than a secret phone and if something bad happens they wouldn't want to tell anyone incase of reprisals.

AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken · 29/06/2021 17:25

@titchy

I despair! It is so clear that children are unhappier overall.

No they're not. Children are much happier than they were.

(I have no evidence either way, but OP doesn't seem to mind blanket statements with no evidence whatsoever so I'm sure she/he won't mind.)

Suicide rates in teens have increased by 75% since the introduction of smart phones/ social media.
chickenyhead · 29/06/2021 17:32

Source please as the WHO figures do not support this correlation

DDiva · 29/06/2021 17:43

The thing is these teenagers in a few years will be at college/work/uni without these restrictions. We need to teach children what is acceptable and teach them responsibility. They dont just become responsible adults overnight !

NotAllTheOnesWhoWanderAreLost · 29/06/2021 17:48

I’m wondering if the people who are vocal about banning teens to have a mobile phone have a teenager themselves.

Because my experience as a parent who did not want her dcs to have one until… well as long as possible, is that, once they’ve reached 11yo and Y7, it’s impossible to say NO. It has too much effect on te social life, friends etc…
Not allowing teens to buy one themselves will not stop them from having one because parents would buy it anyway, like they already do…. (Just like with alcohol btw - otherwise teens would find it much harder to get drunk at parties)

TheGumption · 29/06/2021 17:58

Can't see how this would be enforced anyway. They were "banned" when I was at school and we still used them.

Sunny4876 · 29/06/2021 18:02

My daughters school are doing this,but I keep thinking about the poor kids who have to sit alone at breaks and lunch,at least with their phones they have pseudo company.

Dutch1e · 29/06/2021 18:07

I think we may be forgetting that the last couple of generations have been the most watched & shadowed in living memory. They can't just bugger off outside to roam for hours on end and have a good loiter, or make some normal stupid decisions.

Digital privacy is the only kind they really get, and we begrudge them that too? Feck off.

Dutch1e · 29/06/2021 18:09

I keep thinking about the poor kids who have to sit alone at breaks and lunch,at least with their phones they have pseudo company.

Excellent point. My childhood could have been wildly different if I'd found an online community instead of being utterly alone.

Starlightstarbright1 · 29/06/2021 18:19

My ds went to school without his phone ( punishment) .. He was late home so ended up messaging the parents of his friends to find him.

Far easier if he has his phone.

cakewench · 29/06/2021 18:57

DS's school has banned smart phones and I completely agree with it. For those saying no one has thought of the SEN children, well, they're often the ones being bullied and threatened with being recorded/ pictures taken of them and made fun of etc. These won't be instances publicised by the school of course, but they happen all the time. Only the ones that go viral get the publicity, but it's still humiliating for the child whose picture/ video was taken. I still remember the story of a boy whose rucksack was taken and chucked into a huge hedge, and he was filmed having to attempt to retrieve it, so even more people could laugh at him online. And that's one of the more innocent stories. There are so many clips online of children being harassed and bullied physically at school or on the bus to/from school.

Most of my issues with smartphones in schools are related to the camera and being able to share the images so easily.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 29/06/2021 19:16

@Starlightstarbright1

My ds went to school without his phone ( punishment) .. He was late home so ended up messaging the parents of his friends to find him.

Far easier if he has his phone.

You need to dig out a really old 90s brick of phone, shove some credit on it, and swap it for his smartphone whenever he loses phone privileges.

Probably more of an embarrassment for him than no phone.

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