Strict no phones rule at secondary school

[mrstidytraxxxx]

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.

This was the approach of my son’s school in West London. He was travelling 30-40 mins on tube but school did not care. He initially had a Nokia but now has a smartphone. All the children have phones despite the rule. I felt quite stressed about this rule so he took a Nokia and kept it hidden in his bag.

@Calloffruity well, in the first instance-couldn't she have just found herself on Maps or whatever and that would have shown her the way home? And in the second-a quick call or text "I'm in Costa.." No need for tracking!

Back then there was a phone box on every street corner.

Last year she was distracted on the way home and ended up getting off about 3 stops late. She rang me a bit upset and I was able to look at the tracker, see exactly where she was, and remind her which way to walk

Gosh could she not work out to walk the other way? Or use doodle maps? Or get the bus 3 stops back?

Mine are all teens and I’ve never tracked one of them - I have friends still tracking their 20 year olds and get cross that they want it deleted. I don’t want to be tracked - why would anyone else. It creates all sorts of anxiety.

Why not?

Why not?

Read the thread for answers?

We appear to be enabling a disturbing overreliance in technology and Big Brother monitoring. Troubling.

Lots of schools have this rule. The kids just turn them off or have the volume off, they soon get used to doing that. And you’ll find certain teachers won’t care and others will come down hard on them if they hear a phone. Again, the kids soon get to know which teachers are bothered. I’d let him take a phone.

@Totaly I have read the thread. No answers.

There were pay phones on every corner when we traveled to school without phones. Those no longer exist. A phone is a necessary safety item, just like change for the pay phone was in the olden days. There is no reason students should not be able to have phones switched off in their bags. I wouldn’t be looking for alternatives, I would be raising it with the school.

They're really weren't! That's a ridiculous exaggeration.

From memory, there were two along my DDs' 30 - 40 minute walk.

Yes. My 12yo gets a bus to and from school. Last year she was distracted on the way home and ended up getting off about 3 stops late. She rang me a bit upset and I was able to look at the tracker, see exactly where she was, and remind her which way to walk.

I got off at the wrong stop on my very first day of secondary school, too early rather than too late and in the city centre as I had to change buses. If I had had a phone I would have definitely rang my mother. But I didn't so I worked it out myself, walked to the bus station and it was all OK.

And after that I felt much better about the journey I had to do as I knew I had the capability to solve what seemed at the time to be quite a big problem.

I'm not arguing against children having phones- in fact, both of my own children were amongst the youngest of their peer group to have them. And I think schools are wrong to have a complete blanket ban, although I see why they do. What I am arguing against is the idea that they are a "safety device". And I am absolutely opposed, for many reasons, on tracking children.

To the posters that think it's hilarious to track an 11 and 13 year old, how old are you and your kids?

Children get mugged because they're carrying smartphones. Snapchat used to have a function that let contacts track each other - which meant that girls were stalked by boys without their knowledge. I don't think it's there any more but if you can track your child other people can. Kids will know a million more apps and ways to use smartphones than you.

Children also take videos and pictures of each other and not always in a sweet memory-making way (shock). Is that something that can or should be monitored during breaktime and lunch by busy teachers.

Basically I'm skeptical that the benefits of carrying one outweigh risks and I'm glad our headteacher (who I disagree with on many issues) has a zero tolerance approach.

I love MN just because in your schools, no phones means switched off / on silent, doesn’t mean that’s the same in all schools!

One near us. Is strictly none on site AT ALL. Random bag checks and if anyone’s makes a noise, the whole class is checked. Confiscated if found, even switched off.

@nancy2022 "To the posters that think it's hilarious to track an 11 and 13 year old, how old are you and your kids?"

I don't think tracking is hilarious. I think it's damaging, intrusive and unnecessary. My children are young adults, but were among the first of their peer group to have phones/smartphones.

It's not just risk of crime etc. There used to be plentiful public phone boxes where the child could phone home if delayed, change of plans, etc. They've all gone now! When I was at school in the 80's we actually had a pay phone in the sixth form centre - freely available for sixth formers use but also to all pupils upon asking permission. There were also 3 public pay phones on street corners right outside the school gates which often had queues of pupils waiting to use them. All gone.

How has the world changed? There have always been dangers out there. The place kids are most at risk is at home with their own families, statistically.

@AuntieJune The whole world is a lot more connected now and people, in general, are a lot more aware of instances of children going missing (either abductions or run-aways) or accidents, etc. happening.

I wasn't trying to start a debate about whether the school is right to have an outright ban on phones (I think it is and will follow the rule), I just wanted some recommendations to be able to check DS was on his way home for the first few weeks until we were all settled with the new routine.

Agreed. It's far from hilarious. It's damaging on a personal level, and on a societal level. The fact that people are so happy to give up their own privacy as well as that of their offspring, is really quite disturbing.

We just let the child that wants to stay for a club/club is cancelled/has lost their bus pass/needs money on their lunch account use the landline to call a parent and a message is sent automatically through the messaging system if they are issued with detention?

Well, that would have been nice, but she was only 11 at the time and she's autistic. Her instinct was to phone her mum rather than use maps and the technology enabled me to help.
In the second example telling me she was in Costa wouldn't have been much use, we all needed to go out and we were able to pick her up walking along the street because we knew exactly where she was.

She likes to have her independence and we like her to have it - but she is only young still with SEN, so tracking is great for us and probably allows her a level of independence she couldn't have otherwise.

My DD is 12 and has minor sen. I pick her up from school but one day the time changed for various reasons ....she panicked, luckily she had her phone so it was easily sorted. There were lots of other potential solutions but she is only young and went into a real panic.

Both my DC are tracked and absolutely fine with it. I don't stare at my phone the whole time they're out but if my ds is running late or needs picking up it's much easier to quickly look to see where he is.

Can't believe how many posters want to return to the 1980s. I bet if you were meeting a friend for dinner, you'd take your phone just in case of any hold ups or changes of plan.

Cars are fitted with trackers because we now have the technology to fight crime and protect our property.

Why, if we would go to lengths to protect inanimate objects such as a car, would we not use the same technology to keep our young safe? Perhaps ignorance is bliss. Technology and its advances, both good and bad, exist - whether you agree with them or not. There are dangers posed to young people in the modern age which are more prevalent than before social media and the internet. Grooming, bullying, drug use, targeted attacks - all far more common since social media and instant connectivity has been used for spurious means.

With rape and attacks on women at an all time high (amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/apr/28/sex-crimes-record-high-england-wales-prosecution-levels) - is it really so hard to imagine a scenario whereby a tracker might help a 15 year old being attacked? If my daughter text me whilst walking home in the dark from school (dark here at 3pm in winter), saying she thought she was being followed by a gang and felt at risk, I would want to know where she is and follow that trail if she was suddenly unable to communicate. Anecdotal "I was fine 20 years ago" posts are pointless, lots of people will never encounter trouble, but many do & why wouldn't you want to help your child if they become a victim; from getting lost to a targeted gang attack, surely the good outweighs the bad. Same logic as a rape alarm (some of which have trackers) - would you say that incites anxiety or is a sensible approach to protect yourself?