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.

They don't get caught as they show the pouch that contains a phone/calculator and the teacher moves on. The right to search bags is limited for specific reasons. If they show a locked pouch, there is no reason to check further. If seen with a phone in class, they get a day in isolation.

I mean, I think there's maybe some rose tinted glasses going on here. I remember some things that happened in the way to school in the 80s that were normal at the time and I would very much like to avoid for my dc.

Flashers for one - I remember announcements in primary school assembly to not take a certain shortcut home from school because a flasher had been seen. I wouldn't consider that adequate safeguarding for my dc now. And I remember being followed a few times in secondary school, and creepy guys trying to press up against you on the bus. I also remember having to walk for about two hours to get home after catching the wrong bus and no one knew where I was. It wasn't the perfect world some choose to remember.

I honestly think half the reason these things don't happen so much is because dc have a means to raise the alarm.

While I think it's fine to ban phones at school, I sometimes think the anti-phone sentiment has gone too far, where banning access to a phone is seen as more important than protecting dc from other avoidable risks.

Wonder if more schools will bring in wands to check bags

Are you suggesting that money management lessons are harmful? Because smartphones are. We know it, it's an established fact. And yes, children should be shielded from harm, hence why it's not alright for children to neck shots of tequila, have a spliff or go boxing without protective head gear.

During the school day, yes absolutely. Our secondary is phone free and it’s great. They have pouches and they lock them on the way in and unlock on the way out.

Many children will need phones before and after school. For example, we live 15 minutes drive from school and dd goes to sports training or her job after school 3-4 days a week, often as late as 9pm. She needs to be able to contact us to arrange when to come collect her or in case of emergency (her bank card isn’t working and she can’t buy dinner). But the pouches are a great solution to this and they work well. Yes, I absolutely support no phones in school.

My favoured option is strictly no phones accessible during the school day,* with encouragement not to bring a phone at all unless the pupil needs them at either end of school day, eg for travel. If the pupil is being dropped off and collected from the school gate by a parent then a phone is not necessary, for example.

(*Obviously, further exceptions for accessibility: kids with certain disabilities or medical conditions will need their smart phones for particular functions.)

They could get passes gor train/bus so no real reason for phones I school. God knows how we managed and both my kids (early 30s had phones from 13 but not at school). Hopefully it will cut down a lot on online bullying etc.

My kids school allows phones to be taken in but have somehow managed to block WiFi and signal being available on school grounds . Even if I go pick him up my phone works fine up until I reach the school gates then I can’t access internet or anything ! But means if there’s an issue while he’s on bus on way home he has his phone and can contact me

I feel that it’s essential for safety that my Daughters have a phone on their way to and from school.

There have been occasions when the train to school is forced to stop midway due to an issue on the train line - there is a low bridge that sometimes is hit by HGVs causing all trains to stop until the bridge has been inspected. Sometimes this means she is left abandoned at a station (she ordered a family uber for her and her friends using the app on her phone, which I approved) or sometimes she is stranded on the tracks for a couple of hours.

Without a phone there wouldn’t be any way to alert us, her school, or get an onward taxi to school. The train route doesn’t follow a bus route to school, so many stations have no public transport to take her the rest of the way!

Perhaps if you live in an area that served by a school bus (not available in our city) of live within a short walk of the school, perhaps a phone wouldn’t be needed… but many children have to catch trains, or multiple busses to get to school, and phones are essential for children who do this!

Its some sort of signal scrambling. TBH it makes much more sense than pouches or asking kids to leave phones at home.

How anyone thinks pouches are the answer is beyond me. I can well imagine they'd be filled with all sorts of daft stuff, old phones, tissues, calculators, stones.

The school I work in and my son is in yr 7 have banned mobile phones. It’s worked fine this year so far. From Sept they are banning them at all! Other than a brick phone no children are allowed to bring phones into school. I think it’s a good idea! It’ll stop older kids robbing young ones iPhones (yes it does happen) I live in east London. Too many people, not even kids are glued to their phones, no self awareness - just walking into the road as they are too busy looking at their screen! I’m all for it tbh

I have no idea what goes on inside schools with phones (no school age children) but something should be done about the before and after school.
I live close to a secondary school and walk regularly in the mornings. The kids don't communicate with each other, all heads down and glued to their phones. Have no idea of what is going on around them, step out into the road without looking, bump into other pedestrians.
The physio problems with necks and thumbs is going to sky rocket.

DDs school has lockers.

Rule is phones are either handed in to form teachers at the start of the day and collected from a specific place at the end of the day or they are switched off and stay in the pupils locker (each pupil has their own locker).

Any phone seen on pupils in person whether switched on or not gets confiscated and any phone that is heard from the lockers means the entire locker room gets searched for phones switched on and phones get confiscated.

Phones confiscated have to be collected by parents. More than 3 times of the same pupils phone confiscated in a half term results in a detention.

my eldest’s secondary has a no phones on the grounds rule. So he has it (a Nokia brick) for the journey to and from school but before he gets on the grounds it is switched off and in his bag. If a phone is on and out of a bag/locker during the school day it’s a detention and the phone is confiscated for 5 school days . Seems to work well for them

I walk home from secondary school when the kids finish and this is not my experience. I’ve seen one lad crossing the road whilst on a phone in the last year. But they’re generally chatting with their pals and not glued to phones.

No they haven’t. Schools have had no extra funding for pouches.

Our school is introducing Yondr pouches in September. Do you think they're working well?

I can't say for sure as only hear how inconvenient it is for my child who always had her phone in her bag before. Unlike other students who apparently had theirs out in the toilets etc etc.

I despair no wonder schools are in such a mess happy to start a What’s App discussion! Blimey

Nah I don’t think pouches work . My kids school has signal scrambling which means no phone has access to signal or internet while on school grounds which works great because it doesn’t matter if a kid sneaks a phone in , it still won’t work !

Well previous generations of adults also mananged without. I'm assuming you still only use a rotary land line?

He’s 14 . There’s no need to for him to be able to text you at break times . If he wants to change pick up there’s nothing wrong with asking reception to give you a ring and tell you . It’s not treating him like a baby , it’s treating him like a school kid . As for likening a phone to a lawn mower . Then saying phones are important . Both contradictory and silly .

Handed in at morning registration, collected at end of school, confiscated if found to have one on you even if it's non a bag. Sorted. DSs new school has this policy. SLT have kids, they understand parw ts want to be able to contact kids or kids might need to contact the. So this is the compromise

Absolutely no need to have a phone at school.

Our school ( independent) has absolutely no phones. It's lovely, the children play and chat, do sports, run around the field before school.

Social skills, concentration and problem skills are much better without phones on the journey too ( I live rural so know nothing of public transport and apps)

How do yours get to school? We live rurally and my eldest is at an independent school. She gets a school bus, and her bus pass is on an app. A