Mobile phone ban in school

[Scalagala]

Post inspired by comments on other thread. Would you support a blanket ban on mobile phones in your school? This means no mobile phones - including brick phones - to be allowed in school at all, so hence no access on the way home / on to other activities.
YABU - support a blanket ban.
YANBU - schools could adopt other methods such as pouches or phones off during school day.

Thats your choice.
Many would prefer she had her train ticket on her phone and be able to check what's happening with the trains when they decide to cancel or are delayed.

And I'd be wanting music on my phone. Others might be keen to have a book on there too.

The horror of a lot of parents towards the next generation of teenagers growing up with smartphones as a norm in their lives reminds me of that task they do on The Apprentice - the one where they have a list of unfamiliar items to buy and, apart from being able to use their phones to call people, they're weirdly expected to act as though smartphones and the internet simply don't exist!

How did we ever manage before phones

kids will always find a way to take them. Are they going to search every single bag every single day.. My friends school has banned them so a load of parents have got their kids bags that have a “secret” compartment at the bottom to hide phones. I don’t know where they get them from as I can’t find any on google.

Letters.

Thing is at my son’s school his timetable is on an app. If they make any changes to the school day (supply teacher, change of classroom or change their break/lunchtimes) it’s all on the school app. Children are expected to be able to access their personal timetable at all times. It’s also used to communicate with teachers - it sends a message to the teachers computer with a note from the student, so they don’t have to be distracted by hands waving in class. They lead class discussions by putting a poll out (the most recent one was for an ethics class “Is is ever ok to kill someone”) and they have a much “safer” space for kids to excuse themselves if they are overwhelmed or close to meltdown.
Kids who don’t have phones are given “dead phones” in school with the app built on it.
We were told before the start of the year that the school has created a “dead zone” (I don’t know how but it works!) around itself so that only their intranet works and kids can’t access anything else. Which is useful as it stops them from being on SM or WhatsApp, but they can use them once they are off school property.

@ToffeePenniedead zone seems clever. The communicating with teacher via app seems a bit odd to me though.

I think this is a very large part of the problem. Nobody at school or any other responsible adult will be telling the children that they should smoke tobacco, or drink alcohol (not yet at least); they are expected and urged to live their lives without these things in them.

It's a very different matter with phones, though, as one minute, they're telling the kids that they're dangerous and banned/severely restricted at school (or anywhere, for SM)... BUT the next minute, they're treated as essential and assumed that all of the children have them and know how to use them.

My DS's school recently banned phones on the school premises - including 45 minutes before and after school - except for those needed for medical alerts. He recently went on a trip organised by and leaving from the exact same school, and the kids were all told that they MUST have phones with them, so they could let their parents know if the return coach was going to be delayed (which it indeed was, by nearly an hour).

We owe it to our young people to find more intelligent ways to teach them discipline and responsible use of an everyday essential modern communication advice. Just like we urge them not to swim wild in lakes and rivers, but we also teach them that they need to drink water regularly to stay hydrated.

It’s literally a “hands down” system, it’s so clever! The kids who need help/more support press a “help me” button and a message box pops up, they type in their problem and it pings it to the teacher. If enough kids have the same issue, the teacher can explain it, without having to call anyone out. Otherwise they have “I’m ok” or “please check in”. I’m ok, means they can crack on in peace, please check in means when the teacher has finished their explanation and is walking around the class to check progress they can double check that child. It’s a really useful tool, TBH, and one I wish they had at all schools. It just saves so much time for everyone. At the end of the day, the system sends a mini report to the teacher, with a break down of what questions each class has had, so they can adjust their teaching methods to better suit the learners, so it’s dynamic too

You know you can just read an actual book.

At my daughter's school phones can be kept in bags. If a teacher sees one it is taken away.

It works well.

My daughter needs her phone for after school. Her gym membership is electronic, her money is electronic etc. Her gym doesn't even issue physical cards these days so no access without a phone.

But you can just as well say that none of us need to be on MN for a discussion - you can always just chat to people in real life, or call somebody.

Avid readers often like to have several books on the go at once - having them all on a phone/Kindle or similar is far less damaging to a growing spine than a massively heavy rucksack.

I generally don't read books, hence I said some might want a book.
But I can see why having a downloaded book is cheaper, and lighter than a physical book, esp if your carrying it and other stuff back and forward to school

This is what makes me cross, a lot of the things kids are pushed to have phones for arent necessary. School kids had printed timetables on the back of homework journals for decades without issue. Kids dont need to be told theres a supply teacher it will be bleeding obvious. They should not need to move breaks around. A change of classroom could be sent as a message/read out by form tutor at registration.

A lot of things donr benefit the DC educationally. They make teachers lives easier.

And you lose soft skills. It teaches patience to raise your hand and wait your turn. You can ask "is it ever ok to kill someone" and simply have the kids move to one side of the room or the other and get the kids really engaging.

So use a kindle. No phone required. It baffles me that people are putting up resistance to this. We've known for a while now how damaging and addictive screens are. Its like resisting stopping kids smoking because it feels good & keeps you thin.

We recieved the plans on thhe last day of term.
Still Off in Bags, but the consequences have ramped up (the parents have to collect the phone and 60min detention for first offence)

I'm pretty sure Kindles also use screens...

People suggest that kids can have a smartphone for home (only for when very strictly essential, mind), a brick phone for school, a Kindle for reading books on the bus... how many adults choose to buy, carry, keep charged and keep switching between multiple devices when they can do it all with just one? Many people don't even bother carrying separate bank cards anymore.

It's absolutely nothing whatsoever like smoking, which is a wholly damaging pursuit with only a very small surface level of 'comfort' - with the majority of addicts wishing they'd never started.

Phones are like so many parts of modern life: essential and extremely useful, but not without potential harms for some people, which need to be addressed when they arise - the same with enjoying food but also making balanced and healthy eating choices.

Why add something else to a kids bag to cart around.

The issue is social media, ban that not phones which have a zillion other uses.

It’s not like letting kids smoke. Using your analogy, it’s like school insisting kids smoke, but leave the cigarettes at home. It’s also like schools insisting pupils can’t
carry any money for anything in case they buy cigarettes. It’s like people acknowledging that shops can sell some harmful things (like cigarettes) and a few people insisting that shops aren’t a necessity and that people managed by milking their own cows years ago (instead of reducing access to the more harmful things shops sell or educating about the harms).