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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be annoyed by total phone ban

710 replies

TeleGardenGnome · 09/05/2024 07:25

My child's school which is a busy city location has a total phone ban. So you aren't allowed to take any type of phone to school at all even if it stays hidden in a bag and is on silent and never used. They do bag searches and use metal detectors to find students breaking the rules.

If your child's phone is found they get a detention and you can only get it back by visiting the school in person.

So yesterday my child's phone was found in a bag search and removed. There were awful transport issues and it took them several hours to get home. In the meanwhile we had no way to contact each other.

I can't get the phone back due to work and my husband being away for work. It just stresses me out that he won't be able to get in touch if there's a problem. Expressing my feelings here as there is no point complaining to the school. They don't listen to parental feedback.

OP posts:
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12
lateatwork · 09/05/2024 07:31

Have 2 phones.

QuillBill · 09/05/2024 07:34

This happened at my nephews school. When he started they were allowed to take phones that were completely off. Then they were banned completely.

Then one night the school bus had a new driver and it went a different route and got stuck under a bridge. By the time the police got there the school office was closed and there was a double decker bus full of children with no way of contacting them.

I

Beezknees · 09/05/2024 07:34

YANBU.

I think having them turned off and put away for the school day is reasonable, but I would not have been happy being unable to contact DS on the way to/from school when he was only 11 and just started walking by himself.

QuillBill · 09/05/2024 07:35

Whoops...I understand why schools want to ban phones, I'm a teacher myself, but it's just not practical. People always say "well we didn't have phones and all day and we got home fine" but they were phone boxes. You could stop somebody and asked to use the phone you could go to shop asked to use the phone or sorts of things you could do any of those things really now.

MissyB1 · 09/05/2024 07:36

Why can’t the school just collect them in at morning registration and the kids get them back at home time? That’s what ds school does.

Tygertiger · 09/05/2024 07:37

Ask if he can hand it in the morning and collect after school?

I can see why they’re not allowed them in their bags. In practice this just means they sneak them back in their blazer pockets and go to the toilets to use them. But having to give them in at the start of the day seems a good compromise.

whiteboardking · 09/05/2024 07:37

Which is why total phone bans are not ideal. Phones are also how society functions. I'd be very annoyed as sometimes I actually really do need to message my DC after school eg to tell them to go somewhere / go to Tesco on way home to get something / to remind them to do something or just let them know I won't be home til 6 etc They text me if not coming straight home.

Pomegranatecarnage · 09/05/2024 07:37

Our mobile phone ban starts soon and, as a teacher, I cannot wait. However, YANBU. As long as they’re switched off I think they should be allowed in bags.

SpeedyDrama · 09/05/2024 07:38

QuillBill · 09/05/2024 07:35

Whoops...I understand why schools want to ban phones, I'm a teacher myself, but it's just not practical. People always say "well we didn't have phones and all day and we got home fine" but they were phone boxes. You could stop somebody and asked to use the phone you could go to shop asked to use the phone or sorts of things you could do any of those things really now.

It was a complete pain back in the day! I went to a secondary in the middle of nowhere, nearest public bus was a mile away and a very dodgy walk through back fields. Finding a public phone was laughable. Mobiles were only just starting to be a thing at the time, but they were and are a godsend for safety.

EasternStandard · 09/05/2024 07:38

That does seem difficult. Dc use buses and its useful for them to use Citimapper, I use it too

We’ve had a couple of diversions and it helps them get home

Tippexy · 09/05/2024 07:39

Has he been taught how to use a pay phone to do a reverse charge call?

whiteboardking · 09/05/2024 07:40

@Tippexy there are zero pay phones on my area. Our school allows phoned in blazers / bags of off and not seen. Confiscated and parent collects if seen. Seems to work

JasperTheDoll · 09/05/2024 07:41

Tippexy · 09/05/2024 07:39

Has he been taught how to use a pay phone to do a reverse charge call?

If only there were payphones in the street.

KrisAkabusi · 09/05/2024 07:41

Tippexy · 09/05/2024 07:39

Has he been taught how to use a pay phone to do a reverse charge call?

What payphones?

ChristmasGutPunch · 09/05/2024 07:41

Phones are so bad for developing young minds and interfere with learning and mental good health. I think the inconvenience is worth it. Ideally I'd ban under 16s from using mobiles (yes phone boxes would need to make a comeback).

Anameisaname · 09/05/2024 07:43

Presumably you knew this policy when he started in school? Or is this a new policy?

Either way these are the rules. Your DS knows the rules and yet he still had a phone in his bag. Tough on him.
If you have an old phone you can throw a free sim in (giff gaff for example) and he can be contacted that way.

Itsonlymashadow · 09/05/2024 07:43

Here it saves money to have your bus tickets on an app. I can buy ds in bulk and get a saving. He would need his phone to get to and from school.

I think total phone bans are ridiculous. Dds school had one and when she didn't turn up at home one night (just a few weeks into starting) I called the school and the receptionist asked me 'well have you called her phone?' I pointed out they had a ban on them. After that I sent her with it, switched off and in her bag.

Not sure I would be happy with metal detectors and bag searches though tbh. Is this normal in alot of schools? Ds goes to a big school in town and they dont do anything like that. They are really strict on phone use though.

I think phones are such a big part of life, it's ridiculous and there's so many reasons kids would need them on the way home. I would be speaking to school and pointing out the huge issues with this.

SuziQuinto · 09/05/2024 07:43

I wasn't sure about a total phone ban, but my goodness it's improved behaviour in school. The bullying has been reduced and it's forced the students to otherwise occupy themselves at break and lunchtime.
You will need to teach your son strategies. There will always be a way for you to contact him through school, and vice versa. He can ask someone in the pastoral team for advice and support if he has an issue.

VestibuleVirgin · 09/05/2024 07:44

TeleGardenGnome · 09/05/2024 07:25

My child's school which is a busy city location has a total phone ban. So you aren't allowed to take any type of phone to school at all even if it stays hidden in a bag and is on silent and never used. They do bag searches and use metal detectors to find students breaking the rules.

If your child's phone is found they get a detention and you can only get it back by visiting the school in person.

So yesterday my child's phone was found in a bag search and removed. There were awful transport issues and it took them several hours to get home. In the meanwhile we had no way to contact each other.

I can't get the phone back due to work and my husband being away for work. It just stresses me out that he won't be able to get in touch if there's a problem. Expressing my feelings here as there is no point complaining to the school. They don't listen to parental feedback.

Some of us lived in a pre-mobile phone world. We survived

Original poster
TeleGardenGnome · 09/05/2024 07:44

Tygertiger · 09/05/2024 07:37

Ask if he can hand it in the morning and collect after school?

I can see why they’re not allowed them in their bags. In practice this just means they sneak them back in their blazer pockets and go to the toilets to use them. But having to give them in at the start of the day seems a good compromise.

No they are not allowed phones at all. Children travel long distances across London to this school.

OP posts:
JasperTheDoll · 09/05/2024 07:44

Itsonlymashadow · 09/05/2024 07:43

Here it saves money to have your bus tickets on an app. I can buy ds in bulk and get a saving. He would need his phone to get to and from school.

I think total phone bans are ridiculous. Dds school had one and when she didn't turn up at home one night (just a few weeks into starting) I called the school and the receptionist asked me 'well have you called her phone?' I pointed out they had a ban on them. After that I sent her with it, switched off and in her bag.

Not sure I would be happy with metal detectors and bag searches though tbh. Is this normal in alot of schools? Ds goes to a big school in town and they dont do anything like that. They are really strict on phone use though.

I think phones are such a big part of life, it's ridiculous and there's so many reasons kids would need them on the way home. I would be speaking to school and pointing out the huge issues with this.

Exactly. The majority of bus and rail passes are on phones these days so how can a child get to and from school without them.

EliflurtleAndTheInfiniteMadness · 09/05/2024 07:45

Tippexy · 09/05/2024 07:39

Has he been taught how to use a pay phone to do a reverse charge call?

Are there pay phones still? I can't remember the last time I saw one, it could be a decade since I've seen a pay phone.

I wouldn't be happy if my child was walking/cycling/using public non school buses to get to school and had their phone removed. Hand in at front office or home room teacher if off in bag isn't good enough, but some kids need them for traveling to and from school, its a safety device.

SuziQuinto · 09/05/2024 07:45

So it's London, not a rural location? Just make sure that you have good planning and various strategies in place.
I'm sure he can travel with friends.

alphabetzoo · 09/05/2024 07:46

School need to invest in lock boxes for each class/ pupil and all phones are checked in when they arrive and checked out when they leave. Damn right these children don't need a phone during the day but then do for school travel

Original poster
TeleGardenGnome · 09/05/2024 07:46

VestibuleVirgin · 09/05/2024 07:44

Some of us lived in a pre-mobile phone world. We survived

Show quote history

I also lived in a pre phone world. My mum always made sure I had spare change for a pay phone (of which there were many) and you could also call and reverse charges. My commute was just a bus as well rather than involving the tube which nowadays seems to constantly be broken.

OP posts: