detention for mobile phone use

[neva]

It is normal for a school to hand out an after school detention for mobile phone use (in this case, sending a message during lunch hour - a first offence)? In this case, it is the school's stated policy, but I would be interested to know whether this is usual.

I had assumed that some work would be set during the detention, or she would be allowed to do homework. However, she was required to sit doing absolutely nothing for an hour. Is this the norm?

At my DD's school, mobiles have to be switched off and in lockers for the duration of the school day. If they are spotted by a teacher, then they are confiscated and have to be picked up by a parent. If they need to send a message home, they can make a phone call from reception at any time.

It doesn't really matter what the sanction is, does it? If your child has broken school rules, you should not really question them or think that a little message at lunchtime is somehow OK.

Schools get the brunt of cyber bullying and they have to do whatever it takes to keep a lid on this.

Ours does detention/confiscation for second offence.

It is bloody annoying that some kid thinks they can just disengage and check their messages through a lesson you have slaved over. That said, most kids get absolutely crap examples from adults (including a number of teacher/student teacher friends) who seem to think texting while holding a conversatio/out for a meal/drink etc is acceptable. It isn't. It.Is.Fucking.Rude If you need to check on the babysitter/hamster-minder whatever, fair enough but just checking FB?? WTAF. I think they are like security blankets for inadequate people. I saw a group of interviewees recently and they spent every spare minute on their phones despite sitting round a table. Morons! I would have been sussing out my rivals making polite conversation - oh, and they were interviewing for a teaching job

I like mobiles. I have one and they are fab - very convenient. But not checking them every 2 minutes does not mean your life will collapse in a heap around you.

Yes, it was normal when my kids were at school, and rightly so.

I agree too. There are very important reasons why they're so strict about this so the message should be clear and unequivocal.

In ours the phone is confiscated for a week, second offence and it's a year!

More and more schools are re-writing their policies regarding mobile phone use due to the amount of disruption and bullying they cause. If it is in the school policy then she has just got to live with it - it would not have been a surprise, schools do inform the students of the rules......

In terms of sitting and doing nothing in the detention - I personally prefer this! If they were allowed to do their homework, then its nothing more than a homework club rather than a punishment. Although, it is unusual not to have some form of work to do (in the schools I have worked, we had a bank of especially for detentions, including copying out sheets nothing to do with actual lessons)

I would give a detention for phone use and the phone would be confiscated.

I would require a student to be actively engaged in a task of my choosing during detention. In this case it would probably be copying the school expectations. I would not allow the student to do homework.

Entirely normal at my kids old school, theory is everyone knew the rule of no phones during the school day so if you chose to flout the rule, you did the time. I would've backed the detention if it had happened to DD or DS.

I do think children in detention should be 'actively engaged' as Fallen Madonna puts it. I can't imagine having to sit for an hour doing nothing, or requiring anyone else to do that. Also, that rules should be applied sensibly, having regard to type of behaviour, whether it harmed anyone, whether it was first offence etc. This happens in the adult world; why not in schools?

She knew the rules.

She broke the rules.

I think it's reasonable.

I make them copy out because they'd rather sit and daydream.

What (if anything) have you said to the school, and what line have you taken with your Dd?

A lot of my year 10s work very hard at trying to get away with an hour of doing nothing...

I made sure dd now understands the school rule. I wholeheartedly agree that mobile phones are distracting and shouldn't be used at all in school. But not sure that a one-off instance of this should receive the same punishment as, say, swearing or graffiti? In adult life, we have rules, but we apply those rules on a case by case basis. Should be the same for children.

but...how would one member of staff know that it was the first time? You could have a scenario that staff member A saw your DD and told her to put the phone away, that was her first and final warning.....DD walks to another part of the site and staff member B sees your DD using her phone and says that's your first and final warning......it could go on and on, including your DD claiming to staff member C that this was the first time.......there has to be a line and your DD's school has decided that it is the first time it is seen - this would have been communicated to all (students/staff/parents)

Consistency is absolutely key in school.

If you found out that another child had received a lesser sanguine for the same thing, would you be happy that they differed on a case by case basis?

Have you supported the school with your DD, or have you said to her what you are saying here?

Sanction, not sanguine.

Detention, fair enough.

I think they should be allowed to do homework, or read. But then I'm a big softie.

DSs after school detentions have consisted of watching a drama production dress rehearsal, as well as reading comics provided by the school

I'm surprised they don't hand out snacks too.

Nope. No homework.

And friends can't stay with you either (as requested tonight...)

Rules and sanctions made clear applied fairly and evenly to all has to be the only fair way, surely. Hopefully your dd has learned that the school are serious with their rules and will stick with them in future and will then also enjoy the experience of being educated in a place where other pupils know that the rules are upheld too.

It would be impossible to police a first/second warning on mobile phones in a secondary school given the number of pupils and staff. Just logging it would be an unwieldy nightmare - hence, in my school if a mb phone is seen it's confiscated for a parent/guardian to collect.

As for detentions, each school has its own policy. Sitting there doing nothing is the punishment. Students at my school have to work, but pupils have been known to produce a previous piece of work as evidence so much to their disgruntlement we put the time in the margin.

Neva - it's unanimous!

One important thing to do as a parent is to support the school rule rather than by seen by your DD to undermine it. So please don't say "There there dear, the school were jolly unfair." Instead, give it some "You knew the rules, you broke them, your fault, you take the punishment"

Same rules at ours too. I'm glad the school are hot on it really.

Dcs are allowed to use their phones at school, just not during lessons etc.
The only other rule is no talking photos of the other dcs without permission.

My school takes the policy of 'if you waste my time, I'll waste yours' so that means sitting doing absolutely nothing if you gained the detention for an anti-social reason (rather than, e.g. not doing any work). Fair enough IMO.

It's a bloody stupid rule, if I need to pick up DD from school, I need to tell her before the end of last lesson.
By the time she's booted her phone she's on her bus.

Absolutely agree they shouldn't come out in lessons.

Anyway DCs will just sneak into the loos, far side of the field. Whatever is the point in banning the . It just makes the school look petty.

Oh yes. In a homework for missing a homework deadline they do their homework.

And then copy for any remaining time.