Are there any parents out there who support smartphones in schools?

[LadyJos]

Just curious as all the dialogue out there seems to be about banning them.

I like the phrase - ‘children are over protected in the real world and under protected online’.

That sums it up, the current problem. I think many are naive about the risks online and think that somehow their kids are not being shaped and influenced daily by their online lives. Yet find the idea of not being able to contact their kids or vice versa when in school, or to know their whereabouts at all times, risky. It's all the wrong way round.

I'm happy with them being in schools as long as they are away in lessons. My DD15 has ADHD and anxiety and is only back in school full time now as of recently. Texting me when she's having a panic, is one of the only things that keeps her there tbh.

Don't you think this is problematic though? She only feels secure and connected when she's with her phone? That's actually the whole problem. Because she's reliant on her phone to feel good as it's much easier... much harder to reach out and make friends with other people that she's physically with... without the phone she'd be forced to move outside her comfort zone, make friends, or even learn how to be with people who are not her friends and cope with uncomfortable situations. Then she'd grow in confidence in being on her own in unfamiliar situations. The phone is mollycoddling her. The phone is a shield between her and the world.
It's no wonder kids struggle these days.
We all need discomfort to grow up and separate from our parents.

I don't agree with banning them but I don't think they should be allowed in classrooms (e.g. should be able to leave in lockers/bags on silent).
Part of the problem with banning them is the travel aspect. Both my kids use public transport (i.e. general bus not a dedicated school bus) to get to and from school. Payment is by scanning a QR code on an app. They use their phones to check live service information, choose a different route if needed and/or message to say they need picking up from a different village/town. It's not really feasible for them to manage their journey without a phone. Unfortunately the bus services are very unreliable.

Totally agree with this. I am a secondary teacher and the majority of parents have no idea what their teens are up to on their phones. So much time is spent dealing with SM issues that have happened outside of school. If you are confident your child has never been involved in or witnessed anything unpleasant on their phone, great. But ime this is not the majority experience.

Thanks for sharing your perspective as a teacher.

The thing is that many children are sensible with their phone usage but with the likes of WhatsApp, one person can find a pornographic/violent/whatever video and share it with an entire year group within seconds, exposing it to kids who didn't go looking for it.

I am not anti smart phone. I think children should be allowed them to and from school and keep them in their bag or locker during school and not be allowed to use them during the school day unless emergency.

I have no problem with smart phone use by kids outside the school day. I am aware of the risks and dangers but feel we should be educating our children towards smart and safe use of smart phones rather than just banning.

I find the 'smart phone free childhood' brigade that stand outside my son's primary school very annoying and judgemental.

Both my DC have learnt a lot since having their smart phones. They go out and about with friends in the village and contact us on their phones. They use them for photography projects, video editing, photo editing, game development, animation, and keeping in touch with friends.

I don't blame the phones for anything, children need to learn responsible use.

I would be very pro- schools giving regular smart phone education lessons, including regular lessons and debate around safe use of various apps (such as WhatsApp), editing technology etc..

Phones at school should be off for lessons.
It makes little sense to me the obsession with the impact of smartphones but not smart tvs/tablets/gaming.

My DD school uses ipads - kids are taking photos and videos of each other for bullying/messing about, kids work out how to access WiFi and watch shows during class I hear.
Phones are not the only issue and can be used perfectly sensibly just like other devices.... behaviour however is a real problem in schools.

They are probably more likely to get run over as they are staring at the phone. Or get mugged for their phone.

Yep. Children are more likely to be involved in RTAs or get mugged for a smartphone, than get kidnapped on the way home.

Agree with this. I'm not a massive fan of phones and limit DS's screentime, keep an eye on what he's looking at etc. But as well as the school requiring them to use phones in lessons at times, his phone is very useful for the 5 mile journey to and from school.

I'm a big believer in encouraging independence and problem solving and DS is pretty good at coming up with alternative plans when things go wrong. But he has phoned me twice since starting secondary school 18 months ago when no public buses were getting through due to an accident blocking the road. Plus as pp says, his bus pass is digital so has to be stored on a phone.

I did a very similar journey back in the 90s and yes, I coped fine without a phone. But my bus pass was a paper one and there were pay phones, which I absolutely used when I encountered major problems with the buses!

I'm genuinely quite shocked that the OP thinks her daughter should have a phone so that she can text her mates in class.

But it was a world that was set up for people not having mobile phones. Payphones were everywhere. "Take an emergency 10p for the payphone" was the equivalent of making sure your child has their phone charged.

I'm 100% in favour of them being switched off from the minute they go into school until they leave, but my year 6 child really wants the freedom to travel to school by himself and then go to the park with friends after school. I wouldn't want him to do that without a phone so that he can message me to let me know if he will be going to the park and the ability for me to track his location with gps.

His friends all like to play Pokemon Go together in the park, which I really encourage. Yes it's a screen game, but you can progress more quickly by walking multiple km per day - it tracks this via gps and you get bigger rewards for walking longer distances. It was a huge motivator for us to get out during covid and I'd much rather him play that than a game where he's sat down indoors to play.

I think phones should be off and away from the time they arrive at school to the time they leave.

Besides the point of the thread, I realise, but how are students leaving the premises unnoticed? The very average state schools in our area are really secure.

The naiveté on this thread is something.

Your DC do not keep them in their bags and forget about them. They are a constant draw. Kids sloping off to the toilet to check their phone. Kids stating "I was just texting my mum....". It's totally unnecessary. They should put them in lockers at the beginning of the day and get them back at the end. In fact this is what my DC school does and it has never been a problem.

For those parents saying their anxious child needs to contact them - no they don't. They need to learn appropriate coping mechanisms. You are compounding a problem and increasing reliance on you and their mobile phone.

Our high school is a community campus and the high school is across 3 buildings. Children can also leave for lunch and many of them are doing apprenticeships etc. so leave the school at various points. There are always children coming and going - and adults too. There's 0 security whatsoever.

The naiveté on this thread is something.

It is, and these are parents handing their child communications devices saying "if it harmed you it wouldn't be allowed".

Exactly. Feel so sorry for kids these days. They just get the constant message that they need to be tracked, they need to be able to contact mum, they need help and support. How can they come to believe they are strong enough to cope with life when this is all they know?

Straight through reception, they could be going to the library, PE etc. Also through the fire doors ….

Yes to this !

I agree !

It’s really sad how many people think the past is something to miss - when anxious children just had to ‘get on with it’ and people learned to repress anxieties, mask their autistic challenges and force their emotions down to conform to what they needed to do to get through high school. Plenty of people didn’t ’survive’ and even more didn’t thrive.

If a quick message to me after a rough experience helps my child stay in school and stay honest with me when she needs some extra support, I am grateful for that technology. She does not sit on it when she isn’t allowed, she doesn’t have social media, she doesn’t contact random strangers - none of this would be possible for her anyway due to her rigid thinking and inability to be flexible about pretty much anything. every few days she has a rough time and messages me for a virtual hug and I am so happy that’s an option for her.

Neither @Jollyjoy or myself said anything about neurodiverse pupils !
Although even then surely as a parent of a neurodiverse pupil it’s possibly even more important to teach coping strategies, they’re going to have to go out into the world at some point? I have a daughter with learning and physical disabilities myself before you ask .

when I was breastfeeding my son so I could remember how long, which boob etc.

@LadyJos forgive me for sounding dense, but why would you need an app for breastfeeding? I just fed DD on demand - both sides, for as long as it took.