To be annoyed by total phone ban

[TeleGardenGnome]

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.

He only has to move a certain distance from it and it beeps. Playing football for example he’ll be in the other side of the pitch and it starts.

So why not a flip phone? (Or brick phone, whatever). Why does it have to be a smart phone?

I would really like to see an experiment where a teenager goes into a selection of high street shops and asks to use the phone. Honestly I would. I wonder how I’m how many they would be successful.

My DH found himself in this position a couple of years ago and Tesco let him use their phone to call me. He was in his late 50s, though.

mine was flat recently and my work car broke down. The shop I asked wouldn’t let me use their phone, they’d heard a scam apparently.

Folk managed without mobiles for a very long time. This absolute dependence on them isn't necessary.

Perhaps parents' association should then propose to Head and Governors to fund them themselves. Budgets are far too tight for schools to afford.

That’s a ridiculous rule.

I’d honestly look at changing schools in this case

That's awful, some kids will need their phones for safety and travel purposes.

Smart phones in particular are convenient if need to travel on public transport or share their location etc so I wouldn't be ok with them only being allowed basic phones either.

My kids school blocks the signal somehow so they can't really use their phones in school. There are a few spots that they can get signal on the grounds but generally they can't use them.

Shares location if necessary, can be used for bus tickets etc, can transfer money to their phone if they need it in an emergency...

They are very 'streetwise', mostly in a positive way. They have a confidence I could only have dreamed of having at their age. And they're used to having to navigate difficult situations - quite frequently, the bus drivers will get fed up of kids misbehaving and order all the schoolkids, even the well-behaved ones, off the bus. They're frequently penalised for being late to school for factors completely out of their control - train delayed, bus terminates, overcrowding, roads unexpectedly closed - and they mostly take it philosophically and in good spirits. It's not necessarily what I'd want for my kids long-term (mine are littlies atm) but the kids deal with it and enjoy their freedom. I wouldn't want a child of mine, especially age 11-12, doing this commute without a phone though - too many things that can and do go wrong!

They managed because there were pay phones everywhere. There are very few nowadays so people need mobile phones.

switch it off, wrap it in foil and put it in a sandwich box...

This. Such a stupid idea to have no phones whatsoever. They should be able to give them in first thing and collect at end of day!

I think that's really overstepping their authority by the school.

The world is a different place today so all the comments about how people walked 10 miles home in the past, getting home 4 hours late but still never needing a phone are just missing the point.

We have the technology now to be able to reach our children when they're travelling alone, and there are many circumstances where this is really helpful. In extreme cases it may even be important for their safety.

If something happened to a child on the way home and they were unable to contact their family for help, the school would be partially to blame. They're removing any way of the child being able to get help if needed. Their rules are draconian and excessive.

I would put in a complaint with the governors and highlight it as a safeguarding concern. Emphasise the time lost to the random searches. The governors have to respond to complaints.

Also though, in the meantime, I'd get a cheap old phone and I'd hide it in a bread roll. As in, hollow out the roll and hide the phone inside. Then wrap it in silver foil. That should get past the metal detectors as the foil can be blamed for setting it off. If the teachers are at the point of ferreting around sandwich fillings to look for a hidden phone, they've definitely lost the plot! It's worth a try I reckon, even though I appreciate it's a bit bonkers 😅

Ha! Cross-posted - great minds and all that 😅

I wouldn't be happy at all, DD in year 8 gets public transport home so no way would I want her without a phone.
Totally supportive of schools banning them during the school day but out of school hours it's up to the parents

Is a pager allowed?

I understand your concerns and other parents. I also understand schools are in really difficult situations because phone use has got out of hand. Keeping them off and in their bags doesn’t work as they’re too addicted to them so they creep into classrooms and the yard. This is why some schools are going to full bans. I don’t know what the answer is in all honesty! I’m a teacher.

How strongly do the other parents feel about this? Can you come up with some sort of parents' rota where you each do a morning/afternoon a term gathering phones in named pouches into a box and handing them out again after school?

Can see a few issues with this one, but it's a potential solution.

Yondr (overyondr.com)

OP our schools use these and they've been very successful. Maybe your school would consider them?

And your point is? People also used to live without electricity, running water, cars and many other things that make society and life what it is now.

Like it or not, smartphones are pretty much essential these days (and, believe me, I was a late adopter and only got one when it was impossible to do my work effectively without it). And I would not be happy being unable to contact my child in case of emergency.

We had phone boxes where you could make reverse calls ! I haven’t seen one in years.

Or time travel to 1985?

These looks good! Does the school pay for the pouches or do the students?

Time for my 2 pence worth.

Phones are an absolute nightmare for schools. Social media, messaging etc just creates carnage on a daily basis, especially in years 8 & 9.

However, if kids don’t have them, we’d be back to the notes and toilet posts that caused issues pre phones etc.

Parents want to know that they can contact their kids and see where they are. Fine.

Leaves schools stuck between a rock and a hard place as they are the ones that have to pick up all the pieces after incidents involving social media, even where it occur outside of normal school hours.

Whatever the rules a school brings in, they will be criticised because some parents won’t like it.