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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Strict no phones rule at secondary school

316 replies

mrstidytraxxxx · 01/07/2023 20:28

DS is starting Y7 in September. The school has a strict no mobile phone rule on site. If a student takes a mobile onto school grounds and it is found, it is confiscated for a minimum of 48-hours.

We live approximately a 30-minute walk from secondary school. There are buses, but these are apparently unreliable.

Either myself or DH will take DS to school at present (primary school is less than 10-minute walk away) and he walks home by himself, with one of us meeting him at home.

When DS plays out with friends, he has his mobile with him and knows we use Google Family Link to check he is where he says he is and he is happy with this arrangement. Obviously, we will not be able to continue like this for school journeys from September.

I would like to get a GPS tracker, either key-ring or watch, to make sure where he is on the way home.

Can anyone recommend an Android-compatible GPS key-ring or watch, that does not alert if it moves too far away from the mobile it is connected to, preferably subscription free?

Thanks in advance.

OP posts:
passenjer · 01/07/2023 20:31

He can take the phone to school, but keep it in his bag or blazer pocket (on silent).

EastCoastRye · 01/07/2023 20:33

AirTag?

redskytwonight · 01/07/2023 20:35

The key words are "if it is found". It will be perfectly fine for him to stick a phone at the bottom of his bag or an inside pocket if he never takes it out.

wildfirewonder · 01/07/2023 20:36

Can't he just switch the phone on when he leaves school? I don't understand why he needs something else in addition.

saraclara · 01/07/2023 20:36

My kids had a half hour walk to school, no buses. No mobile phones back then.

I genuinely feel sorry for today's teenagers, being tracked every minute by their parents.

wildfirewonder · 01/07/2023 20:36

They don't mean no one can have a phone surely, they mean no one can use a phone?

PotteringAlonggotkickedoutandhadtoreregister · 01/07/2023 20:37

He takes his phone to school and he leaves it switched off in his blazer pocket or bag for the duration of the day. Problem solved.

vivaespanaole · 01/07/2023 20:43

I think you will find all the kids have them they just keep them concealed. Teachers don't have time to be doing bag checks.

If you have family link i'd send him with it and double protect yourself and dc by locking it during school hours. If there is an emergency they can still text all call just not use apps etc.

If school confiscate it id explain it is needed for travel and that it is effectively rendered useless during the school day so is doing no harm.

redskytwonight · 01/07/2023 20:44

saraclara · 01/07/2023 20:36

My kids had a half hour walk to school, no buses. No mobile phones back then.

I genuinely feel sorry for today's teenagers, being tracked every minute by their parents.

Yes, I agree the tracking is OTT. Partly because I know of teens that get round the tracking by leaving their phone somewhere else.

But back in the day there were more public phone boxes and schools also had payphones. So if you spontaneously decided to stay for an after school club (or had just forgotten to tell your mum) or if you'd waited over an hour for a bus and had no idea if one was ever going to turn up .. you had another means to contact your parents.

MariaVT65 · 01/07/2023 20:46

Keep the phone in his bag secretly. I’d say no need for tracker but it’s good for emergencies, so just a really basic one would be fine. The school can fuck off.

Summer76swimmer · 01/07/2023 20:51

all of the secondaries here have a phones off and in your bag before you go through the gate rule and if it’s used onsite it’s taken and a parent has to collect it. Second time it’s kept until the end of term. All the kids have a phone none of the schools ban them outright

CurlewKate · 01/07/2023 20:52

Please don't track him! Why would you do that?

nancy2022 · 01/07/2023 20:55

I have dds in y7 and y9. At first they were allowed phones in school. Then they weren't allowed them in school full stop. Parents complained saying they wanted them to have them when walking home. Now they can have them in their bags turned off. If anyone is seen with it it's taken off them until the end of the day. If it happens again the parents have to collect the phone.

I think this is fair.

Yes I track my dds as they are 11 and 13 🤷‍♀️

nancy2022 · 01/07/2023 20:55

CurlewKate · 01/07/2023 20:52

Please don't track him! Why would you do that?

Why would you not?

Highfivemum · 01/07/2023 21:00

He needs to take it and treat it like he would a ruler. Only taking it out when he needs it. This is what I tell my two oldest. Our school takes phones and stores then till end of day but I say to mine just keep it in the inner pocket. Peace of mind for me too

meditrina · 01/07/2023 21:00

Get a basic brick phone, and tell DC to only switch it on as they leave school

If it's off and in the bottom of a bag, it won't be found, but even if DC does get it out, it won't really matter if they're without it for a while.

FWIW, I think schools confiscating phones beyond the end of the school day on which it is found is just plain wrong. They can't possibly know (and won't have time to verify) what the pupil is doing over the next 48 hours and whether depriving them of their phone is disproportionate

MossCow · 01/07/2023 21:01

I would say most schools have this rule. My DD's certainly does. She just keeps her phone in her bag.

At my nephews secondary school they aren't even allowed to do that. They aren't allowed to take their phones even in their bags switched off. They have school buses and one day on the way back from school the bus went under a bridge and got stuck. No child had a phone. The school bus driver phoned the school so that they could contact the parents...the office was closed. The police had to call the head in the end, it was a right carry on.

Anyway, they all got home safely in the end and the school did not change the policy.

Original poster
mrstidytraxxxx · 01/07/2023 21:01

I have spoken to friends of my nieces who go to the same school and have been told that if someone's phone makes a sound in class, i.e. they've taken it in and forgotten to switch it off/turn it on silence, everyone's bags are searched and any phones found are confiscated.

DS is an only and I appreciate I am probably being over protective, but I would really just like the piece of mind to know he's on his way home when he should be.

For those saying you/your children didn't have mobile phones when you were at secondary school, this may be true, but the world has changed, and not necessarily for the better.

OP posts:
wildfirewonder · 01/07/2023 21:02

nancy2022 · 01/07/2023 20:55

Why would you not?

Show quote history

Because it engenders a false sense of security and reduces real trust between parent and child.

nancy2022 · 01/07/2023 21:03

I was at school during the 90s. I didn't have a phone. I do now. Should I not have one because I didn't then???

nancy2022 · 01/07/2023 21:04

@wildfirewonder They are young teenagers I don't care if they think I don't trust them. I want to know where they are.

saraclara · 01/07/2023 21:06

For those saying you/your children didn't have mobile phones when you were at secondary school, this may be true, but the world has changed, and not necessarily for the better.

Teenagers are in no more danger walking home from school than they were twenty years ago when mine were at school.

I've seen the statistics, and if I could remember where they were and find them before I go out in few minutes I'd link them.
What has changed is that we've become a more fearful and paranoid society. And this is harming our children's independence and confidence.

mondaytosunday · 01/07/2023 21:07

@saraclara I'm glad my kids were able to have phones from secondary. I do not track my son, though on occasion it would have been helpful on the few occasions he has rung me not knowing where he is after going out with some mates and wanting to get home (it took him two hours to walk after midnight as he had no idea where he was).
My daughter and I have mutual tracking - it means I know she is on her way home, or if unexpectedly delayed where she is.
There's a difference in being able to find your kid if need be, and stalking them.

CurlewKate · 01/07/2023 21:07

What good would being able to track a child do?

CoffeeWithCheese · 01/07/2023 21:08

I’ve intentionally avoided the local very very strict rules school for DD. School she’s going to has a “phones stay off and out of sight” rule which I think is a fair compromise. They’ve banned smartwatches totally though as kids were using them to text while sticking to the “phones out of sight” rule.

As for the horrified “what did kids do in the past”… we had functioning pay phones on most street corners back then, and schools which didn’t view kids as some kind of demonic entity to be broken down at all costs (so they would support kids to ring home off required). We also had a much less shit local bus service meaning that you were less screwed if you missed the bus unlike in some areas now where services have been cut completely or are down to 1 an hour or the like.

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