To wonder what the ban on smartphones across 17 schools in South London will acheive.

[ThatMother2024]

The Guardian reports that 17 schools are uniting to ban smartphones. I have no idea what this is expected to acheive, what the evidence base is and whether kids will just devise some easy workaround.

Do... people not understand schools have to make reasonable adjustment to any policy for exactly this reason?

Fastest way into open disability discrimation tribunal I can think of.

I work for a large schools group where phones are banned all day long. Damn right too.

Yes to all the above. Im a school first aider, the number of pupils who call their parents direct to be collected is ridiculous. Most of them sign out or get noticed walking out by reception staff, but we have had some just leave without telling anyone and we have no idea.
At my nephews school in london they have to leave phones at home. One benefit is that thieves recognise the uniform and know not to target them as they wont have phones on them 😳

A large amount of bullying takes place using phones …

Absolutely this. Many pupils seem incapable of keeping a switched off phone with them all day, the temptation is too much. In my school they tried having special shelved boxes for pupils to put their phones in at the beginning of each lesson, all that happened is that they said they didn't have a phone to hand in , then continued looking at them during lessons. Teachers soon learned to recognised a kind of left looking downward gaze as they looked at their phones at their desks. Have you ever been in a busy corridor between lessons where pupils literally are so glued to a screen that they walk right into you ?

It’s not difficult to police - anyone caught using a phone during the school day - in lessons or breaks, has the phone confiscated and returned at the end of the week. For repeat offenders, a meeting is held with the parents before it is returned.

Our school (Liverpool) has just started this as well. The only exception is 6th form, and there are limits there as well.

Mt DS has only a 10 minute walk, is 16 and does not need a phone, so I would have told him to leave it at home. Hopefully other parents do the same. None of us had phones 40 years ago. I appreciate that it’s a different matter for DC who have a longer or more tricky journey potentially involving public transport problems.

School are facing huge problems with unacceptable phone use - they have to act and parents need to limit and monitor phone use as much as possible. Everything we’re seeing indicates that some - perhaps most - children do not have the maturity to use phones sensibly and can’t distance themselves from online trouble.

I don’t understand why schools have such a problem with phones at school - ban them or confiscate. Parents need to be supporting the schools.

My dd school did this but we got her an exemption for medical reasons. It’s been a nightmare as the message still
hasnt filtered to all staff and multiple times a day she’s stopped or told off and has to explain

A school in my area has lockable pouches and each student is checked putting their phone in the pouch. Staff lock it. The students carry their pouch with them during the day. If a lesson requires them to use the phone the teacher unlocks the pouches and then re locks at the end of the lesson. They are unlocked at the end of the school day.

Well you need buy-in from both the parents and the kids to download and use it as it can be uninstalled. You may as well ban smartphones to have more control over it.

Phones were and no doubt still are banned at my DS's comprehensive school in South London. I'm not away of any negative effects arising from this.

Why would a phone be required in a lesson? That’s not a phone ban, more a fancy, expensive way of switching the phone off.

Same with my son he was diagnosed with Diabetes 18 months ago and has a Dexcom.
He's at college now ,and they are expected to put their phones on a, shelf e at the beginning of every lesson ,obviously he's an exception ,but he's been questioned loads of times ,and also told off for eating jelly babies when he needs them.!

Do you think it has a positive impact? I would be in favour of this nationwide.

I thought they all did this already?

It doesn’t make much difference though, as kids can just hand in an old phone and keep the “real” one if they’re that keen to hang on to it.

The Southwark schools have done it in response to parents’ wishes.

I would certainly have supported it when my Dc were at school.

Young people have access to computers at home and school for any internet needs. The expectation that 11 year olds need a highly expensive gadget to function is ridiculous and puts too much pressure on family budgets.

Schools are taking a stand against it being the norm.

We wouldn’t want our kids walking to and from school with several hundred £ in notes in their pocket and yet we are happy for them to carry very expensive tech. Madness.

Yes, they do all of that. Any more.

But I am against a ban. Not read the entire thread - I assume that the ban doesn't include those using a phone as a medical device?

No, schools just let kids who need to use their phone as a medical device collapse in a heap on the floor instead, because schools have no common sense.

a phone can be used as a dictionary in both English and MFL, it can be used to play educational games (think Blooket et al), it can be used for research on any topic whatsoever, it can be used as a revision tool (think BiteSize), it can be a calculator in maths and science, it can be a ruler to measure things in a whole host of subjects, it can provide up to date maps, you can watch videos on a whole host of subjects to support learning.....off the top of my head. If used appropriately in education, it is a useful tool. Unfortunately, too many children don't understand how to use them appropriately.

I have worked in education for over 20 years. Bullying is nearly always made worse due to social media.

I teach. I also have a child with type 1 and a relationship with a number of local type 1 parents. I can assure you that there are schools (or rather, individual teachers within schools) who will happily let children collapse to the floor before allowing them to use their phones to monitor their blood sugar. They are frequently challenged on their having a phone out in class or in the corridor, to the point where frankly, it is a discrimination issue. I mean, imagine having to justify your phone use several times a day to a bunch of people who, if they had bothered to read the emails and look at the photos, would know why you had your phone in your hand.

Schools are not perfect places for children who are unwell. Some schools are, of course, amazing. But many aren't.

I mean, imagine having to justify your phone use several times a day to a bunch of people who, if they had bothered to read the emails and look at the photos, would know why you had your phone in your hand.

Which tells me that the school phone ban doesn't apply to the child who needs to use it as a medical device.

I asked about the OP's original post and the schools banning phones in Southwark. Not the ones local to me where some parents have had one hell of an uphill struggle getting the permissions required for the children to use their phones.

This would be much more complicated to implement than simply removing the phone. And what would be the point of having a phone if the features are turned off? If you absolutely need to contact your parents, they can do that at reception.

Not complex for software development professionals in telecoms to develop software for this though. I presume this is an international phenomenon.