Hi Mum, this lesson's rubbish

[Heated]

Words fail me

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article3419680.ece

why oh why don't schools ban all these things? I system where they a re left at teh door

They do ban mobile phones. The kids ignore the ban. They go off in class and then there's a battle about making them hand teh phone in.

We do ban them. The kids ignore the ban, and many parents encourage them.

I've lost count of the phones I have taken from children when the phone rings in the lesson, only to be told, 'My mum insists I have a phone'

One time it was the mother phoning in the lesson

Our school rule is that phones have to be switched off during the school day.

Any abuse of the mobile phone policy and it is confiscated. The parents can collect it from from school office at the end of the week.

I've only confiscated 2 phones since September, so it's not a huge problem in our school.

oh I agree, we ban them to.

But I think somehow this needs to be reinforced.

We ban them being used in the grounds as well!!

I have heard of a lecturer who had a bucket of water kept at the front of the room to deposit and phones that were heard during the session.

Aparently they all muted them, but at least the lectures weren't disrupted.

Uni is a different environment though

We also ban them being on school grounds. Not only because of the disruption that they cause in lessons but also because of their role in bullying, and the target they generate for theft.

We also ban MP3 players for the same reason (theft and loss). That's not wildly sucessful either

We have two payphones in the school, and the welfare staff will also phone home if there is need.

Same here MB. The bullying thing is more of a concern to me as we've had a few issues of fairly nasty text bullying.
I think the success of the school policy is just down to it being enforced consistently across the school. My ds has recently moved schools and he had his mobile confiscated just because he took it out at the end of a lesson (DH had texted him )- ds had to collect it from the office at the end of the day. I was well impressed that this is obviously totally the norm for where he's at school.

They are supposedly banned in our school, but I have to admit I do ask dd to take one in, hidden in her bag. This is because I want her to have the freedom to walk home from school like all her friends when she is well enough to do so, but I know that her joints can give way any second and that she may fall and need to call for help. She would never dream of taking it out or having it switched on during the school day though, and she knows her friends are not to know she has it.

They are not banned at dd's school - but must be turned off in lessons. I was a bit surprised - but it seems to work. It does mean that I occasionally get photos of particularly unappetizing bits of school dinner texted to me.........!

Mobiles are permitted at DD1's school but MUST be turned off in lessons. She and I used to have the same model of phone, and one morning I put my phone into her blazer pocket by mistake, thinking it was hers. It was still switched on. She, meanwhile, had already switched HER phone off in preparation for her English lesson first thing with dragon English teacher who is more strict than most about these things.

A bit later, I couldn't find my phone and tried to ring it to locate it in the house. No luck.

On collecting DD from school she informed me that she had got a serious b***ing from her teacher because her phone had gone off in the lesson. And she (the teacher) didn't even see the funny side of it when presented with two identical phones...

P.S. At the recent parents' evening DD booked me in with said English teacher first and threatened to get her own back...

Although DD3's school does allow mobiles the pupils are being asked not to bring them at the moment as some phones have gone mising. If they do bring them they are asked to make sure they are turned off during lessons and not to have them on show.

DS is allowed mobiles, but they must be switched off in class or they get confiscated.
Also very strict rules about using the cameras in school.

DS's phone has been a god send to us, because he travels by train, and they are not that reliable.

All exam boards bad mobiles because of the risk of them being used in cheating

in my sons I.T class the teachers wife fones him ......

Very bad form.

I do have to leave my mobile on when dh is having his chemo, when he was in the hospice, but that is for emergency text messages only.

It has occasionally 'bleeped'. the kids I teach know about dh's illness and are very understanding. I also make a point of appologising to them

martiansbishop sorry to hear about your dh apparently this was when the smaller children were on half term and the big school was open ...the it teacher was shouting down the fone wake him up its 10.30 get him out of bed he cant stay in bed etc etc ...apparently the class were in stitches laffin at the teacher bellowing out in a broad irish accent-obviously even teachers wives have problems waing children up in the morning .

Mobile phones are banned during exams. We have to put up notices to that effect. If pupils arrive at an exam with a phone, it has to be handed into the invigilator.

Invigilators can have mobiles, but they have to be switched off. They are only to be used to summon outside help, so can be switched on at the time. In my school, we only ever have one invigilator, so it is essential to have a mobile available.

As for general mobile policies, I think it is a bit hypocritical to ban mobiles completely. As parents, we are all supportive of our DCs having mobiles. It really takes a lot of pressure off us to know that they can contact us if ever they get into difficulty. Teachers generally have mobiles and it makes a big difference having one - it removes one of the restrictions of being a teacher. I imagine that in certain schools it is particularly handy in summoning help in emergencies.

For our pupils, the kosher use of mobiles is to pass messages back and forth about pickup times (eg parent stuck in traffic), and therefore only need to be switched on at the end of the last lesson. If the pupil is sick during the day, they call from the school office.

My own kids never have their mobiles switched on which can be infuriating, but I know that if they need to contact me they can (although last week would have been bad because I had a dead battery for the week )

dippy- teachers are the worst for getting their kids up! Dunno if it's because we have to leave for work ages before they need to get up or whether it's something genetic, but I've been known to phone my kids to check they've gone to school !!

We ban phones but the kids still bring them in, text under the desk & when you try & tell them off, they swear blind they haven't got a phone (by now its in their pocket). 5 mins later, it happens all over again.

and then you get the 'I was phonoing to see how may granny is, she is in hospital'

'Lets go to Welfare and they will phone home for you'

'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'

They are meant to be out of sight in our school, but they aren't.

TBH I wish the school would impose a blanket ban on ALL phone use at school, it would make everything so much easier.

lol.....my middle son got ept behind for a detention that wasnt his- by mistake, school asked him to fone home and tell me cos i didnt even know he was kept behind presumed he was getting a lift ....so he fones me from the office to tell me i say can u speak?(meaning is someone listening?) yes he replies and proceeds to tell me the story .....
i get all cross ring school and demand hes brought home ..in meantime the teachers are asking him was your mum cross? oh yes says he absolutely mad...... will she bewaiting for you at the door? at the door he responds...shell be stood at the gate waiting .....lol one v apolegetic teacher brought him home !!! ds2 the fibster had made me out to be a screaming banshee and had compared me to the mum in malcolm in the middle!!!!

At dh's first school the pupils used to phone home, also to have parents storming in but to confront the teachers, not their wayward child. In fact one child phoned his parent in front of the teacher in the lesson! There was a lot wrong with that school.