School and kindles

[Stripitout]

DD 9 has a kindle. Books are generally cheaper , you don’t have to wait to go to the shops or order from Amazon, she has a lot of books and finishes around 1 a week.

They have to take a book to school everyday for reading - school library is crap and she’s read most of her age and older books.

The school will not allow any electronic devices. I’ve explained she can’t take photos, message, go on the internet with it but they will not allow her to take it to school. It means I have to keep buying print copies of books for her to read just at school, if she’s really enjoying a book on her kindle she has to swap and change with a print book for school (I’m not buying duplicate copies)

it seems so short sighted of the school. AIBU?

The problem is your child has a kindle. That's fine. But the school then has to deal with another parent saying their child needs to take their IPad in to read from because they don't have a Kindle. Another parent complains that their Kindke was lost or stolen or broken. The school has to check that your child is reading what they say their reading and that it is age appropriate. And so on and so on. It's possible to buy second hand books very cheaply online. Or can her father or someone else take her to the library or some charity shops at the weekend?

The difference is that trainers and clothes remain on the child. The kindle will not, save could be stolen.

OP might take it on the chin , but other parents will not. And if her child is allowed to take one into school, those other parents' children will want to.

If you haven't worked in a school, you probably are not aware of how a small thing can cause a huge and time consuming ripple effect.

@saraclara Shoes and clothes clearly don’t always ‘remain on the child’ or why are there giant heaps of shoes and clothes in every school’s lost property office? Shoes and clothes can also quite easily get ruined.

there isn’t a single good argument on this thread for why a child shouldn’t be allowed to take a reading device into school. If Timmy’s mum says ‘what about his iPad?’ The answer is ‘obviously not because you can game on an iPad’

it is honestly like saying because sugar and cocaine are both drugs, then if a child can take a chocolate bar to school they should be able to take class As in.

kindles are brilliant devices and they are magical to many kids (and adults), in just the way libraries and bookshops were to us as kids.

That’s pretty naive. Schools have enough on their plate without having to monitor the various e-readers to check whether they are appropriate or not.
Then the issues when they are lost, stolen or damaged - upset children, angry parents. Irrespective of what has been signed, if another child steals an e-reader then the school will end up having to deal with fall-out.

Clearly a ban on devices is being challenged by OP so I can imagine a ban on non-dedicated e-readers will be challenged, too….”oh but our DC uses the kindle app on their iPad/ Kindle Fire we shouldn’t have to buy a separate kindle” etc.

Parents kicking up a fuss about the most inconsequential things - rather than thinking about cheap, free or easy alternatives.
Who would be a teacher?!

@noworklifebalance See my post above. It is not hard in any way to tell a dedicated reading device from a tablet and people in charge of teaching kids to read should learn the difference quickly if they don’t already know it.

However, in terms of school rules, when you have one parent wanting to shift the boundaries slightly (bring a kindle, not a book), the next parent sees that and wants a small change too (DC only has a kindle fire) it becomes a slippery slope. That is why they have one set rule e.g. physical books only.

This.

You might not blame the school if the kindle went missing, but other parents would.

If 500 kindles were suddenly turning up into the building every day, that is a huge issue that teachers haven’t got time to monitor. We have been blamed for missing coats, jumpers, lunchboxes, water bottles, calculators, pencil cases, squashies, footballs, fiddle toys and hair bands-they have caused huge issues sometimes with parents both claiming the item belongs to their child which takes huge amounts of staff’s own time up. It is time consuming and a distraction. A kindle would be the same but much higher value and much higher stress. Dont give the school any more non-teaching problems to field.

I would build going to the library once a month into your busy Saturday and get 12 books out each time, which are school-only books.

Your post also shows a massive naivety about different people’s lifestyles. Not everyone lives near a library or well-stocked second hand bookshop. kindles have made reading easier and more accessible for millions of readers - and the range of books available is incomparable.

@Shinyandnew1 500 Kindles turning up in a primary school would be a delightful problem for a school and the world to have, trust me. In 10 years, they’ll all be glued to TikTok and schools will be wishing they hadn’t tried to police reading devices.

Just buy a load of cheap second hand books, as has been suggested. Allowing one child to bring a Kindle would open the floodgates and cause a lot of problems for the school, particularly for younger children.

Get book swapping! Or use your library and local charity shops.

Go to a second hand shop and buy 20 books for 20p each or whatever small amount they charge. Then do it again in the next half term. Sorted

Yikes - I see we’re still talking about libraries

as someone else said good luck finding a local library which offers a range of opening times. Ours is Monday, Wed and Saturday (I’ve just looked). Saturday it’s open for a whole 4 hours.

Cant be arsed to go back and look which poster(s) were baiting about spending time with DD at the weekend…she’s up and out at a tutor from 9-10 (no the library isn’t close by). Then collecting the food shop. Then home and chores.

You know those threads where stay at home mums say what they do in a week? Thats what I do on a Saturday !

Kindles are pretty bomb proof electronic books.

“If you want your child to bring in an e-reader please fill in this form detailing what kind it is and that the school are absolved of any responsibility. Here is a list of approved e-readers”

But yet another job for teachers to do - check devices, contact parents when the wrong ones are brought in, deal with cross parents. And, again, broken, lost and stolen devices become the school’s problem regardless or what is signed.

No it wouldn’t. It would be a PITA. 500 books would be more useful

@noworklifebalance Yep I do understand that it’s one extra thing for the school to monitor. But plenty of schools allow Kindles which is proof that these schools sensibly think that anything that encourages a love of reading in young children is maybe worth a touch of extra admin?

Reserve library books online and pick up - no need to spend time browsing there.

You know those threads where stay at home mums say what they do in a week? Thats what I do on a Saturday
Cool, same here.

@LittleBearPad It would be a small amount of extra work, yes. Well worth it IMO for encouraging a love of reading in kids.

the point I was making really was that 500 children bringing kindles into school is so far from happening that it’s really not what schools should be worrying about - which is the fact that no children at all might be reading books in 20 years time.

OP you don’t want people to answer you. You just want them to agree with you.

Reorganise your Saturdays once a month and borrow 20 odd books. Problem solved and you might even enjoy it.

You also seem to have a bee in your bonnet about SAHMs but who says the people are responding don’t work. I do.

It wouldn’t be a small amount of extra work. It would be a big amount of extra work that teachers don’t have time for when actual books mean no extra work at all.

@LittleBearPad If it’s such an unmanageable amount of extra work, why is it that some schools (mine included) allow it?

Maybe you wore them down with your endless Amazon advocacy. Was it a primary or secondary school?

How do the parents of your child's classmates obtain an adequate supply of suitable books? Do that.

Either way, your primary school have said no to Kindles - they are not being unreasonable to do so. Perhaps they are limited by funds, staffing or both. Perhaps they have been burnt previously by opening the stable door with regards another rule.

Many PPs have given alternatives so your DC can still have the opportunity to read books of interest during the school day.

It doesn't really matter what your school do, op's school have said no, so her only option is to facilitate getting some books for her DC herself. There have been lots of good suggestions on this thread of how she could do that.

Ereaders are incredible for inclusion. The kindle you can change the font and size, including using a dyslexia friendly font, no doubt others like the kobu are similar.

It wouldn't be hard for the school to say. Dedicated e-readers only. Will some parent moan that little timmy needs his Ipad? Probably but chances are she would have moaned about something regardless.