3 day suspension for having phone out in school

[TooBored1]

Would you think this was reasonable?

For context my DC's school is consulting on going phone free - pupils will have to put their phone into a lockable pouch when they enter school. They will be subject to random bag checks, and if your phone is not in the locked pouch, or if you are caught using it, there will be an automatic 3 day suspension.

Overall, I'm in favour of going phone free, but I think the punishment is too much, especially as it is harsher than that given for fighting/bullying or disrupting lessons.

I also don't think it will prevent cyber bullying, as, as experienced by both my children, this happens in the evening, rather than during the day.

The punishment is ok - your are being unreasonable
The punishment is not ok - you are not being unreasonable

Thanks everyone for your thoughts - quite a hot topic.
A few further thoughts/responses.

1. I do fully expect my children to follow school rules or face a APPROPRIATE consequences.
2. I do support phone free schools and, so far as I am aware, my children do not particularly use their phones at school, so I'm not overly worried about them breaking the rule, if implemented.
3. I personally feel a 3 day suspension is not commensurate with the crime, especially as causing physical harm to another pupil does not attract this level of punishment.
4. This MAT is known for inflexible policies - 3 times a day equipment checks (all classes have to line up and have their pencil cases out, they shortened break to allow for this); having to line up outside, even in winter, without coat on, no talking in corridors when moving class rooms, only allowed to go to the toilet between classes, but only 4 minutes to between classes - teachers stand outside their classroom with timers. Attendance requirement for prom - one girl wasn't allowed to go to prom, even though the ONLY time she'd had off was 2 weeks when her mum died.

Reading that last post I'd be looking for a new school. It's ridiculous how strict they are.

@TooBored1 now you've said all that it sounds like a horrible school.
The phone issue would be the least of my worries if my child was a student there.
🙁

Just in case you didn't see, the policy has NOT been implemented yet. Where did you get that my child has broken the rule and I don't want them to face the consequences?

Their phone is kept until the end of the week.

After a few outraged teenagers had hissy fits, they realised the rule was non-negotiable and they stopped breaching it.

It took about a week, before it became a non-topic.

Sadly, the MAT has all but one school in the city. I think we have less control over our children's education than when the Council ran them.

When my eldest was starting senior school we had in induction evening for parents. The school was awkwardly placed for public transport so there were school buses but if you were in detention you missed your bus. The Head said please don't ask to speak to me if your child has detention and you aren't able to collect them as I won't change it, speak to your child as there is no need for any of them to be in detention. It was true, he never got detention as we didn't have a car and he knew it would be a very long walk.

That's good to know, thank you.

I very much believe in natural consequences but I'd very much hope the rules were fair in the first place.

My DDs school is about to become phone free in September, I am fully behind it and not throwing my toys out of the pram like a lot of the parents are. Three day suspension does seem a bit much but the kids know what to do if they don't want that to happen, follow the bloody rules!

I’m a solicitor and I can tell you now that I’d be looking at a lot more than a three day suspension if I used my mobile phone in an institution where it was explicitly banned and I’d been requested to place it in a pouch and not use it. I certainly don’t work in a warehouse where I’m treated like shit.

In the real world, actions have consequences.

Tbh, I'm not sure? Certainly sending death threats (in the evening) via social media to another pupil didn't warrant ANY suspension, neither does vaping in the toilets (24 hour internal exclusion).

Consequences don't work like that in the real world, punch someone you don't go to court and the magistrates gives them a free punch back

OP you could be at my school.
From September all pupils need to have a lockable pouch or suspension.
For my 3 that's a charge of £18 each.

I agree, it is preparing them for the real world. I'm a nurse working in a prison, if I was caught with my phone on my person at work, let alone out, I would likely lose my job. It would be a serious breach. I'm sure there are quite a few other jobs where strict adherence to the rules is non negotiable.

Maybe because in 'my world' rules only apply to other people's children.

What if they’d really like 3 days off? And would they be allowed to take phones home with them? If so I can’t see it working with the more troublesome element.

If you child doesn't break the rules they don't have to worry about the consequences. It is fairly simple.

In my DDs old school, phones were handed in when they entered the school and given back on leaving school. It was a key reason for choosing it for me. It was only 800 pupils tho.

Lots of places in the ‘real world’ don’t allow you to have your phone on you or switched on during working hours. Or have other restrictions on doing things that you might fancy doing.

You will get little sympathy in here, most of mumsnet love the rules of schools. All those arguing there must be more to it, I doubt it. Personally I see suspensions regularly that are way out of proportion to the ‘crime’. We are churning out generations of conformist robots who if they do think for themselves, speak up or break the smallest rule (e.g untucked shirt, dirty shoes) get punished severely. Schools are worse than prisons from my recent experience.

Tell that to my daughter who several times messaged me to tell me she felt ill/her period had started unexpectedly/someone was bullying her in class/breaktime/lunchtime but the teachers were ignoring her.

A school can’t exclude students for what happens via social media on an evening. That’s beyond their responsibilities and when parents are supposed to take over. If your child has problems on social media on an evening, you need to take the social media away.

A tiny amount in comparison to three phones.

I'm not against the phone ban but a three day suspension is stupid as children are at school to get an education and a suspension should be reserved for serious incidents, such as harming someone.
I'm also against the random bag searches as children could have sensitive things in their bags that they don't want a random teacher to see.