Mobile phone ban in school- not sure what is reasonable!

[greenmarsupial]

My children’s secondary school have just sent out an email about the new DfE guidance on mobile phones in school. Currently, they are allowed to bring them but they must be off and in their bags during the school day.

The school are consulting parents on options but with a heavy steer. It sounds like any lockable option is time -consuming and expensive so they would probably like to just say no phones whatsoever.

I do fully support the school and would reinforce rules around phones but for some reason this has made me quite cross as I feel it oversteps. My kids often go to the local leisure centre after school- they need the app to book and get in. They need Apple Pay to buy anything… I appreciate we could probably ask if the leisure centre does physical cards and they could carry a bank card so there are get arounds but why do we need to when that’s not the direction of travel for most things?

I am far from in constant contact with my kids but I do find it helpful to check their location and for them to be able to let me know if they need collecting - the plan is normally to walk but if friends don’t go or a club us cancelled then we need to communicate. I’m all for them having restrictions but I think that’s my place as a parent.

I’m happy to be told I’m wrong about all this- my gut reaction was just to be annoyed. I know we didn’t have tracking and text in the 90s but I was definitely a teen who was rarely where I told my parents I was so maybe it’s paranoia although this generation seem almost too sensible 😂

Do the kids have a locker st school? If so, phone in locker as soon as soon they arrive, collected end of day.
Hidden pocket in lining on school bag? Not removed ever
Over the shoulder pouch to be worn under school uniform? They cannot physically search the child.

As a teacher I agree with not having phones out at all at school. But fully understand that many of our students get trains and buses in and I would rather them have a phone for the journey than not, especially in winter when commuting in the dark after activities etc.

YABU We all managed at secondary school without phones and we're all still alive and well. Kids need to learn some independence from their phones. They can take a bank card for after school.

Just hand in when they arrive and hand back when they leave.

surely that’s totally acceptable and sensible.

As per usual, it is the few rule-flouters who ruin it for everyone else.

Our school used to have a phones off and in bag policy and tried to change it to no phones in school at all. The reality is that the kids still just keep them in their bag or blazer switched off. As long as they’re not using them in the school day, no one knows. My kids needed their phones for the bus so the schools no phones policy was ridiculous.

They’ve had lockable pouches (Yondr) at my child’s school for the last year. They work brilliantly - I have no complaints. We had to buy the pouch from the school. I think it was £23.

Tough tits. They can book on the app the day before.
This has always been a rule in my DD’s secondary school, she’s there 5 years. If you take out your phone during school hours it is confiscated for 3 days. Most abide by the rules, the few that don’t constantly lose their phone.
Only 6th years have leeway within reason as they’re 17/18 and respect the occasional rule bend in a free class.
Of the phone is off it’s not a problem to carry one in your bag.

I was interested in how much they cost, searched and found this https://www.wisepay.co.uk/store/generic/template.asp?ACT=nav&mID=597783
So compulsory £12.50. Compared with the cost of phones, not too bad really.

I don't think the op is objecting to a rule about phones being turned off during school hours. It's a sensible rule, and most kids stick to it. She's objecting to not having a phone available for out of school activities. I would too.

It’s not a few though, it’s the vast, vast majority of children who do use their phone regularly throughout the school day.

That seems silly. Our school requires parents to buy the pouches themselves. Which, presumably, parents aren't obligated to do if they are happy for phones to be left at home.

I can't see any justification to saying it would cost that sum.

We had pay phones on every corner though
And we didnt need apps etc to pay for travel.

Of course there is a massive difference!
My DD needs her phone for after school, she travels home on a public bus. Sometimes she goes to the gym etc and needs to let us know she’ll be on the later bus.
I can track her location.
I wouldn’t be happy with her not having a phone on her at all.
The world has changed since the 90s, fair enough controlling phone use in school, I am totally on board with that, but not allowing phones at all is overstepping

It's not an overstep to control what is and isnt allpwed on its own premises. Some would argue not the best solution, bit definitely not an overstep!

How are they overstepping? They can still take their phone, it just needs to be off in their bag during school. They can still use it after school at the leisure centre.

The phone pouches work well for this. Locked away in bags on arrival and opened at the end of the day. You will still be able to see where your kid is and they can use before and after school. It's made a huge difference. If you have anything urgent to tell them just ring the school like the olden days!
In an average hour lesson before phones I would have to sanction at least four children who would be texting friends to meet in the toilet, parents, shopping, scrolling - this has got so much better. Don't even get me started on some kids arranging toilet hookups for sex.
support the school please.

No they can’t, that’s the point.

Bleurgh- that doesn’t bear thinking about! I’m definitely all for pouches but it felt like the school were trying to say it was prohibitively expensive. It sounds like they are not though and lots of schools use them so will be more confident in putting that as my preference in the consultation.

No they can’t - she is saying the school want to ban phones altogether, even switched off in bags.

As a tween/teen, I would have hated the amount of oversight that I have of my DCs lives. I would not have wanted my parents to know my location, not because I'm was up to anything particularly nefarious, but because I wanted freedom, privacy and the ability to make my own decisions.

Get your DC a bank card, a physical gym card and have some respect for their growing independence and problem-solving abilities.

In terms of safety, a school that strictly enforces a no phones on campus policy is protecting your DC. They are less likely to be mugged, as the community at large knows children in that uniform aren't carrying a phone.

I would welcome the no phones policy.

Not really an issue- turned off and in a bag is the same as locked up- there are plenty of other ways to pay than Apple Pay and I am sure the leisure centre doesn't insist on you using the app. It's convenient, but kids can have agency in their lives without having a phone. A phone in a bag is always going to be a temptation, one the kids quite often give in to, I expect- if you support the school and your child's education, you should support phone free.

I think pouches are the way, but get the parents to pay not the school.
More and more things are becoming 'apps' and not so easily accessible by other routes.
In 'my day' there were physical tickets, phone boxes etc, things that just don't exist so much any more.

At my kids school they have small ‘valuables” lockers in each form room. I’d say they’re about big enough for a laptop. They lock their phones away in tutor time at the start of each day and collect them at the end. I support it to be honest. If I ever needed to contact my child in an emergency then I can call the office and they can pass a message on. If it’s that urgent then school likely needs to know anyway to provide support.

Ours did a trial of handed in at the start of the day a few years ago and then switched to Yondr pouches as much easier logistically especially if kids needed to leave for sports matches, medical appointments etc.

The data shows behaviour has improved hugely after the change from "switched off in bag" and anecdotally teachers say students are a lot more social at breaks and lunch. Removing the temptation really works for a lot of kids.

Like OP kids being totally phone free after school would be problematic given activities and other things they may need their phones for - for example, once a week one of my kids has sports training in a place without good public transport where he needs collecting at the same time I'm with other child at a different activity. In winter he'll often get an Uber if he can't get a lift with a friend. Or he'll be coming back from a match on the train and they'll be delayed so he can let me know his eta/when to collect him/whether I need to make arrangements for knock-on effects for other activities.

When kids are bouncing round multiple activities, in a world without payphones, it's not great if they don't have a way of being in contact.

Our secondary has the lockable pouches and they’re great. With few exceptions, some SEN or children who use blood glucose meters or other medical devices that link to their phones, children do not need to be on their phones during the school day. They absolutely 100% use their phones if they have them and they aren’t locked away. I think anyone who thinks they just put them in their bags and never look at them is living in woo woo fairy land.

I do think schools need to be willing to make the investment in the solution though. My dd does need to take her phone to school because she goes straight from school to sports or work and has to arrange collection, often as late as 9pm. I don’t feel comfortable with a 13 year old being 20 minutes from home at night with no way to contact us in an emergency. But she definitely doesn’t need her phone before 3:10pm and it can be locked away. It sounds like the school is just throwing up its hands and not wanting to put steps in place to find the solution. Our school has done it, so other schools can too.