Do you allow your DC their phones during online lesson time?

[anniemouse]

My DC are in year 10 and 12. Their schools have a strict no mobiles phones during lesson time. However, during lockdown learning they like to have their phones in addition to their laptops whilst in online lessons.

They are older so I am mindful they need to learn self-restraint. On the other side of the coin, I know mobile phones can be a big distraction. DH and I are both working FT at home so we can't constantly monitor them to check if they are being distracted by their phones.

How do you manage mobile phones during online lesson time?

DS13 has his as he needs to take photos of his work and email them to the teacher. I am well aware he probably does other things on it as well but he is home alone so I can't take it off him completely.

Year 10 son has mobile in his room. I randomly check on him throughout the day and he is always working.

Ours have their phones because they often have to use them for educational reasons. We are all well aware that each and every one also has WhatsApp web open on the PC anyway whether they've got their phone or not.

DS tends to FaceTime/chat with a friend(s) in the same lesson so they do a mixture of general chat and chat about the lesson. I think this helps her to stay focused, so wouldn't restrict her phone use.

Yes phones allowed - used to chat/msg friends & discuss the work

By that age you should be able to trust that they can do online learning without you monitoring them! And yes my Y11 daughter has her phone. She chats with friends at break and lunch and I text her too. Her camera is on so the teacher can see her.

We dont really have a choice. Most of the work comes through teams, but some still comes through the old homework app, so he needs access to that to get the work and submit it.

There are also loads of WhatsApp messages floating around, but its all assisting those that dont know whats going on. I'm sure none work stuff happens too.

I think they are a bit old to be 'allowing' or not. It is up to them to manage themselves.

Y11 and he's only got a phone to do lessons on. He is struggling a bit but we don't have a laptop, so no other option.

If it's an apple phone you can check screentime

I’m sitting with DD as she has additional needs and needs help with certain things. They often use their phones as calculators or to send a photo of their work. Sometimes teachers says something like : Oh! Ralph is not here, can someone send him a message please.
Also DD’s lessons are quite intense so you have no time to use your phone during the lesson for chat but you can at break time.

DD has her phone, although not needed for any technical reasons. She and her friends are using discord chat alongside their lessons - but they're mature and sensible and concentrating well. They use it mainly for a bit of chat as they complete work in lessons that aren't being taught live, or for the odd "mutter" at each other while the teacher isn't talking to the whole class - so much as they would talk to each other if at school.

If she were a different child, we might have a very different policy!

Even if they don’t have their phones, they can chat on teams, zoom, discord and have WhatsApp on their laptop. They can also watch Netflix and game without their phones in the room. Online learning is lonely and boring compared to school and they are sitting in front of an entertainment centre.

Yes to take and send photos of work.

Can only get onto the lessons using phones, sometimes!

DD is younger. She's 11 and is in school this time round however last time it was really valuable to be able to FaceTime friends and work alongside each other. Once I realised this I reloaded the phone rules significantly

Teacher perspective:
If you have kids who still need monitoring, please monitor if you are able. It’s not the having the phone that can be an issue, they can be jolly useful, but what they are doing on it. A periodic check that they are not logging in to the lesson and then ignoring it to “play” on their phone would be appreciated.

Yes, I let mine have their phones. They often chat with their friends and do the work together. My children are more productive and have better mental health when they talk to their friends during lessons.

I have Yr10 DDs and they have their phones with them during lessons. I'm sure that both text/WhatsApp their friends when possible but if they were at school they'd be able to see them and chat with them anyway.

I feel that they've lost so much this year and are isolated from their friends that this really isn't a hill I'm going to die on.

Plus they're working hard and are engaged in lessons (I get weekly feedback reports from the school). Any slipping and I'd know.

I have to say, I generally expect the pupils I teach to have their phones with them for online lessons. They need to take photos of their work to submit it to me, and quite a lot of them are reading the questions from their phone screen to be able to answer them in their exercise books. I wouldn't dream of extending our no phones policy to online learning as well.

Dd2 is in year 6 and she has her phone with her while she's remote learning. She facetimes her friend and they work together to do their work. They aren't live online, and wouldn't be able to chat to each other even if they were, but in an actual classroom they'd be discussing their work all the time. It's quite sweet really. Dd called me to help explain one maths question to her friend this morning, even though dd had it right she just couldn't explain the method well enough for her friend to understand.