Mobile phones

[LittleEsmeWeatherwax]

Are pupils banned from using them in your school? What are your policies?

Pupils in my school are taking the piss and I'm sick of being the ogre teacher who sticks to the rules.

Kenlee, certainly in my school, the problem is on a massive scale so it needs sorting urgently. As for the responsible kids, it wouldn't affect them since they leave their phones off/at home anyway.

Little I'm not sure what happens in most schools. I just know that in DD's school they are encouraged to use their mobiles as a tool for learning. The kids are told what they can and can not do in lessons. They are also not allowed to use at breakfast, lunch or dinner. I do agree if the school is full of students who don't want to be there then it can be quite difficult to maintain order. Although I do suspect with no phone they will be up to some other type of mischief. At least if they are playing candy crush they aren't disturbing the other kids.

Kennlee if we could just 'show the door' to kids who disrupted lessons, we would. The procedure to expel a student is long and arduous - we cannot just chuck them out ! And I'm sure your kids are great, but I've had fantastic students do stupid things. Phones are a pain - they are not needed for anything - schools have lots of computers these days.

And the difference is ;
Computers work through school wi fi so we can control what they can see
Phones use 3G so we have no control and do cameras and social media cannot be blocked.
The toilet selfie is impossibly to police (unless we have a member of staff in each loo)

How terrible doing a group Selfie in the toilet. Maybe it stems from not being able to do it in the open. I know my daughter's school have full WiFi access. Its also not restricted after school hours. The girls are all taught to use it wisely. My daughter does have 3G but hardly uses it during the day at school. The WiFi is quicker. Hmm I think instruction is better than banning.

Come spend the day with me Kenlee. I will put you in sole charge of ensuring teenagers do not use their phones for anything except work. Oh and if you can also make sure that the selfie taken of the child under protection does not make it onto Instagram that would be great. Cos then her violent father would not know what school she had been moved to and couldn't turn up to try and snatch her. Photos are banned for a reason - but teenagers think they are invincible and rules are there to be bent. We educate our students and 99% are brilliant - the 1% however can take away from teaching time. And they really need to learn to manage without technology - education should make them use their brains, not their thumbs. Right, back to class.

Lol at the idea that it's the parent responsibility to teach the child to use their phone appropriately.
Well first not all patents would be able to do that because Instagram and the likes didn't exist when they were young so they might have no idea what it is about. I've recently learn about another one (is it snappy or something) that allows photos like this and they are suppose to be deleted just after. Except that they aren't always. If you don't know, then you are not going to be able to teach your dc.
Also we are talking about teenagers who have theories mind and will be doing stupid things. The 'no photo' rule for child protection is going to go way over their heads as something unlikely to happen (again seen that happening. And tbh when as a parent, you are putting photos all over Facebook, why shouldn't they?)

Last thing is that playing candy crush in a phone during lessons might not disturb others but it certain won't help them learn. What about the school evaluation, results at GCSE and more importantly how are you going to motivate 30 13yo to learn French if half of them are playing on their phone instead?

mums lol at using their brain not their thumbs!

I actually do know of one girl at my DD's school who is not allowed to have her photo taken. The girls at my DD's school all police themselves to make sure no photos are taken of her. So I think that is a no brainer. Once it was explained to the girls. They all seem very active in ensuring each other don't break the rules. Yes I have joined them on Instagram sanpchat Facebook even goggle+. They have all added me too and the other mums. We are there to observe and not participate. Parents should explain to their kids why they have joined and that we are silent.

To be honest as a parent I don't care about the school evaluation. Teachers are at a school to teach. Some teachers are lucky that get classes with engaged students. Mainly because they can engage the children. Other are not so lucky and no matter how great they teach some will not care. I just don't think banning the phone will help that.

Why are phones good in class....

So they can be taught that a phone is not just for WhatsApp and selfies in the toilet. Rather it can be used for googling to expand ones knowledge. It can be used for Excel for maths. If one understands the formula. Homework can be sent to and from each other making it faster. Communication is quicker.
Apps that are useful for learning like duolingo are introduced to the children instead of just Minecraft and sim city.

Downside. .The kids that don't want to learn play on their phones type silly messages to each other. We have told our DD we have advised the school we are OK with them confiscating her phone if she is silly with it.

The ball is in her court to see if she can use it right.

I do understand its harder with unruly children. We do get pictures of her art work direct from the classroom . Even the odd Selfie with her teachers (nice when your daughter is overseas Boarding). The teachers are really good that if they are writing why your DD has had a caution. They will CC her on the email. We then write an email back to the teacher and Cc DD. She is then expected to write a very lengthy Email explaining why she did. Why its not a good idea to do it again. What will she do if a similiar situation arises. Email back to the teacher and Cc her parents. We then agree a punishment with her teacher. EngagEd parents are just has important as engaged children.

Obviously this only works with kids and parents that are engaged with school. So if they aren't then lets get all draconian on them.

Ban the phone.....detention for any misdemeanor.

The problem is those parents that are totally disengaged, and their children are totally disengaged. Indulged, every whim spoilt (think a fortune spent on hair and nails, football academies, state of the art everything). We have, in our school a generation of pupils who cannot bear to be parted from their handsets. We have had teachers posted on snapchat with lewd comments, pupils snapped in changing rooms, fights recorded, sexual pics sent, an immense amount of cyber-bullying.

This morning, I counted how many pupils had their phones out in corridors, on the yard, in canteen. In a 5 minute walk around, I counted 49 phones out and it's so fucking frustrating.

Sorry - mega rant. Had a tough day.

Haha little I feel for you. I also get miffed when I walk through the office and see the young graduates put away their phones as I glare at them walking past.

I do like the school ban on phones at breakfast , lunch and dinner. Which seems a good idea...

In my school, literacy standards is shockingly low, as is numeracy. We have had to haul in pupils and make them have so much core intervention, that their other subjects are almost the sacrificial lamb - my subject is taking a hit but the Head understands because it's our main priority as a school. Using the handset as an educational tool would apply to perhaps 35% of the cohort, the rest totally abuse it. The scale of it is massive - I wish parents could see it, I really do. Getting rid from the moment they set foot on school grounds is the way forward for us but its going to be a rough road.

Our fucking TA's are on Facebook all the time - some even updating whilst in class - it is beyond a joke. I've bollocked a kid (Year 11) for having phones out whilst seeing a TA with her phone out, hiding behind her handbag.

I teach in a rough city centre school where the famous football team is literally a walk away. Players are seen on a regular basis and every kid wants to be a football player. Parents support this. We have expensive phones and glammed up nails, designer handbags and fake tan but no fucking pencil cases. No pens! I fel stripping the phone 'privilege' is a step inthe right direction towards reminding these kids that they are school children who should be ready to learn.

Can you tell? Another rough day.

In DDs school if phones are seen or heard they are taken to the office for parents to collect. However ... They do use them in some lessons, so if I've sent DD a text which I expect her to read when coming home, she might read it during a lesson (ie ICT).

I am not a big phone user but I have my Head of Year, My School Manager (ex-police, super efficient) and Head of Pastoral on speed dial. I have to regularly step out of class slightly to make an emergency call - fights, overturned tables, a small fire being lit in an empty classroom, truancy of certain 'dodgy' pupils etc). Pupils have the utter cheek to challenge me on my using the phone "You won't let US have our phones out, so you shouldn't either".

In their immortal and ever so lovely words:-

It. grips. My. Shit.

Aaaaargh.

HSMM - to be honest, it's the SMART phones which are the issue. And the 3G connection they have which opens up a world of problems for schools.

Head of a tech is a friend and he pondered on the idea of buying a few illegal 'blockers' to corrupt 3G signal but the prospect if law-action put him off

OMG....your school and DD's school are so polar opposite. I really do feel for you. I think although the issue is using their smart phone in class prevents them from learning. The underlying problem is the parents don't care about their children enough to teach them social manners. I could never work in such an environment as I most likely be in prison for killing at least half the class by mid day.

Your EQ must be really high. Have you ever considered teaching at a different school? Somewhere where the kids are more engaged.

Allowed in form rooms, 5 minute breaks but has to kept in in lockers during lessons