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.

This in spades, except I would say 20-22 years ago, not 15. ^ Many people - including CHILDREN - don't seem to be able to get through a single hour without their bloody phone. A woman I know (aged 30) had her phone die on her a few months ago, and she completely lost her mind. She was hysterical. Ranting and crying, and saying her bank is on there, concert tickets are on there, whatsapp groups, emails - all sorts.

She was on the verge of a breakdown because she was without her phone for two and a half DAYS. It packed up on a Tuesday evening and she got a replacement with the same number by the Friday morning. Yet you'd think someone had stolen a kidney from her!

It's ludicrous how some people are totally dependent on mobile phones. As I said, even children demand them now, and also, their ranty parents demand their children have them. It's batshit.

Children have coped with 11-13 years of school, (and college and uni on top,) for 100s of years, without having their own phone at school/college... Yet now people throw a massive tantrum if their precious child can't have their phone at school. (And so do the children sometimes!)

It's pathetic! Children do not NEED a fucking mobile phone in school. Indeed, children (under 16 anyway,) don't need a mobile phone at all.

Phones have become part of us, and as a teacher I don't have any issues with them. As long as they turned off and in bags or pockets, fine. Unfortunately it's the minority who spoil it for others, the ones who video teachers, other students, sneak them out in lessons or use them to disrupt lessons by playing sounds like farting noises or swear phrases. Tutors taking them and giving back at end of the day is an option but quite a logistical pita! Most schools deal with this by have zero tolerance of anyone having them out, which generally works. X

I think everyone is dependent on technology because that is how everything works nowadays. There are no pay phones, not many bank branches or other ways of communicating. Home landline phones will only be accessible via the internet soon.

To an extent, people need mobile phones more these days, and people are more reliant on them, with some things needing apps now. (And there being fewer payphones.) But to act like this woman who I know did - whilst not having her phone for 2.5 days - was insane. She was hysterical. Not sleeping, not able to concentrate on her job (phoned in sick for 2 days!) and just lost it.

And I still believe that children do not not need mobile phones. That's a hill I will die on.

and children had Blackberries, really? In the end instead of 15 years make it 25 the point still stands.

You’re just going to have to get over it. That’s the school rules. They’re fed up of parents excuses as to why their child should be exempt.

All your excuses as to why you won’t move your child, surely their safety is the most important thing. Not that worried really are you? Just easier to moan about the school.

Maybe tell the school that you are concerned about the safety of your child, going to and from school, and if they can keep their phone in reception during school hours, then give it back at the end of the day. So that you and your child are able to keep in touch, during the journey to and from school.

How does allowing children to drink water lead to dehydration?

Because a lot of kids just end up not drinking which is I suppose the opposite of the 'healthy we just allow water' rule. A little flavour goes a long way.

That's on them if they don't drink much. Can't blame the school.

I’m guessing a fairly small school? There are over 2000 kids at my sons’ secondary so this wouldn’t work. They’ve recently had a consultation on mobile phone policy and when you think about all the possible approaches it can be quite difficult to find a workable system. The magnetic pouches seem quite a good idea, or to simply have a ‘if we don’t see it, we won’t do anything’ approach which is our school’s current approach. It will depend on each school’s particular issues with phone use as well.

Whether secondary school age children need them depends on where you live. Children at dds' school often traveled for long distances on public transport. It would have been a nightmare if they couldn't contact their parents if the buses or trains were late or canceled.

They have sports fixtures after school too where they don't take your child back to the school but drop them at a different station. I suppose someone will come along to say the child should just plan their route in advance but most adults would use Google maps.

Very important that they don't do anything stupid snd get their phone confiscated them.

I'd get a petition going asking for phones permitted in bags switched off and any child caught using their phone in school gets a 5 day fixed term exclusion. That would surely be a compromise the school would agree to?

(I teach in a secondary school)

Parents would be in favour of that until it's their child being excluded then - miraculously - they'd be a very good reason why the rule doesn't apply to them.

I’ve only read your posts @TeleGardenGnome so I don’t know if it’s already been mentioned- but what about a smartwatch that is 4g enabled? So it has its own SIM card and doesn’t need the phone to be nearby. This is what I have for my kids, and I set classroom mode through my app so that they don’t get calls or msgs during teaching hours.

One more reason to go back to going to your local school rather than miles and miles across town and country.

Many don’t get the choice to go to their local schools anymore. We wasn’t given any of our choices for primary school so had to drive every day and now secondary school is not even in our city it’s 12 miles away in the next city. Not our choice at all.

I didn't say it was.

For many, it is. What I am saying is that kids should have a guaranteed space at their local school- as is the case in most countries.

If the OP is about the London Observatory- then most are there by choice and travel massive distances. Same for many private schools in the area.

Many children can't get into their nearest school.

Interestingly DC who is 20 says won’t give own children phones till they are 16!

I don’t see why each form tutor can’t collect all phones in and out in box at registration and then child has to go collect at end of day. That’s what happens in my son’s year 6 class and it works great. When I was at school I only got a mobile when I was like year 9 but before that we had an old school phone booth that we could use at breaks and I’d phone home and pray my mum was in to ask if I could have dinner at my friends house that night. Schools don’t have phones like that anymore.

At the moment, form tutors don't have time to do this as there are about 3 times as many things to do in form time than the time available, so the school would need to find time to do this. Ditto at the end of the day, students go home directly from their last lesson so the timetable would need to be rearranged to have a time for the tutor group to reassemble, students and tutor.

What happens to the box during the day? How does the box get from the tutor room to the safe place, and back again?

What happens if the tutor is absent, or when a student arrives late or leaves early?

What happens if a student refuses to hand over their phone?

Some students will hand in a phone, but have another still on them or in their bag.

It's a huge amount of time and energy spent on something that has nothing to do with teaching and isn't part of a teacher's job, and schools don't have money to pay administrative staff purely for this.

Secondary is quite different to Primary. In general the pupils don't go back to their tutor group at the end of the day. I don't think they have the capacity in the timetable for mobile phone management.