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Secondary education

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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:
sleepyscientist · 02/07/2023 16:28

mrstidytraxxxx · 02/07/2023 14:54

@Calloffruity I have not misunderstood the school; the blanket ban was explicitly stated on more than one occasion and the school actually suggested a tracker if parents wanted to know where the children were (from a safety point of view).

Thank you to the posters that have actually provided recommendations.

Just let him take his phone, tell him as long as it's on silent and hasn't disturbed a lesson to not to hand it over and if the teacher tries to take it state you will report them for theft. Any problems their welcome to ring his mum. My mum ended up in a similar position as I had a long trip home. She made a scene in the heads office and it was never take again. Shouldn't have to resort to behaviour like that but sometimes its the only way.

It's mental that we aren't letting kid use technology to their full advantage, my phone is like a library with multiple textbooks etc that could be helpful. Banning phones in schools doesn't stop inappropriate messages or TikTok's it just means they happen outside of school.

As for smart watches teenagers love goals like the apple rings which encourage activity in an obesity crisis that's a massive advantage.

wildfirewonder · 02/07/2023 16:31

Calloffruity · 02/07/2023 14:38

Where do you stand on tracking flights out of interest? If DH goes abroad with work and I'm not otherwise busy I'll track his plane on flight radar and I know when he's landed. Is that an invasion of his privacy?

Show quote history

It's not an invasion of privacy but I think it's weird to waste time/brain space tracking something in this way. What is the point of tracking his plane, why do you do this? Is it because you're afraid of his plane crashing?

I would just ask my DH to text me when he lands, we do that most big journeys. But while he's travelling I don't think about where specifically he is between A & B.

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 16:40

@DNAwrangler "There are, presumably, lots of situations outside of your experience where a parent feels a tracker is the best option."

Yes-I assumed there were. Which is why I asked. So far-one. The extreme mountain biking situation. That's it.

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 16:44

"Just let him take his phone, tell him as long as it's on silent and hasn't disturbed a lesson to not to hand it over and if the teacher tries to take it state you will report them for theft."

Really, really don't do this!

HauntedPencil · 02/07/2023 16:52

Ds school has a strict no phones rule but that's oj school grounds - provided it's turned off and in her bag will that really be an issue? I am supportive of the no phones in school rule but I did want mine to be able to contact me on the way home and there.

DNAwrangler · 02/07/2023 16:53

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 16:40

@DNAwrangler "There are, presumably, lots of situations outside of your experience where a parent feels a tracker is the best option."

Yes-I assumed there were. Which is why I asked. So far-one. The extreme mountain biking situation. That's it.

So far many more than one. You don’t have to agree with them for the parents - the ones who actually know the situation/kids - to feel it’s best!

Maireas · 02/07/2023 16:56

I'm just going to repeat the advice from pp.
He can take the phone. Check it's on silent. Keep it in his bag or pocket. Not heard, not seen, all good.

Maireas · 02/07/2023 16:57

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 16:44

"Just let him take his phone, tell him as long as it's on silent and hasn't disturbed a lesson to not to hand it over and if the teacher tries to take it state you will report them for theft."

Really, really don't do this!

I know! No wonder we have problems.

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 16:59

@DNAwrangler So far many more than one. You don’t have to agree with them for the parents - the ones who actually know the situation/kids - to feel it’s best!"

Sorry, 2. I forgot the poster who honestly said she felt she was entitled to know where her children were at all times. And actually, all the others are arguments for having a phone-which I agree with- not for tracking.

seratoninmoonbeams · 02/07/2023 16:59

My sons school is the same. They have it on do not disturb between 8:45 and 15:35. It's in their blazer pocket and they leave it alone. It's the same policy that if they get caught using it it's confiscated. Never been a problem in all the years they've been there and I think it's a great rule as well.

Calloffruity · 02/07/2023 17:07

wildfirewonder · 02/07/2023 16:31

It's not an invasion of privacy but I think it's weird to waste time/brain space tracking something in this way. What is the point of tracking his plane, why do you do this? Is it because you're afraid of his plane crashing?

I would just ask my DH to text me when he lands, we do that most big journeys. But while he's travelling I don't think about where specifically he is between A & B.

Show quote history

No, not afraid of his plane crashing. It's just interesting - that kind of ooh, I'm sat at home and DH is flying over Germany, how funny kind of thing. I guess if you don't get it, you don't get it, but flight radar is a popular app so it's not an unusual thing.

Why do you ask your DH to text you when he lands? Are you afraid of his plane crashing?

Peter12345678 · 02/07/2023 17:11

Why do you ask your DH to text you when he lands? Are you afraid of his plane crashing?

Manners are very different to stalking.

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 17:17

"No, not afraid of his plane crashing. It's just interesting - that kind of ooh, I'm sat at home and DH is flying over Germany, how funny kind of thing. I guess if you don't get it, you don't get it, but flight radar is a popular app so it's not an unusual thing."

Yes-I get this. I think it's fun too. But very different from tracking you child popping into Starbucks on the way home from school.

StephanieSuperpowers · 02/07/2023 17:23

God, imagine being an adult and not being able to pop into tesco without your children monitoring the situation from base.

I think I'd go crazy if I was being supervised to that degree.

Comedycook · 02/07/2023 17:24

StephanieSuperpowers · 02/07/2023 17:23

God, imagine being an adult and not being able to pop into tesco without your children monitoring the situation from base.

I think I'd go crazy if I was being supervised to that degree.

Well there's a whole array of things that children can't do that adults can.

StephanieSuperpowers · 02/07/2023 17:27

Comedycook · 02/07/2023 17:24

Well there's a whole array of things that children can't do that adults can.

Show quote history

There were a number of posters who mentioned that they and their partner and children keep a kind of circular watch on each other, including checking if dad has gone to tesco on the way home.

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 17:27

@Comedycook "Well there's a whole array of things that children can't do that adults can."

Sure. Popping into Tesco, though? And surely if a child wants to be somewhere they shouldn't be they just turn the phone off? And then you can't contact them at all!!

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 17:30

The more rules you impose the more kids find ways round them. If you say "I trust you-just let me know where you are"-chances are they'll do it.

BeyondMyWits · 02/07/2023 17:38

I would be complaining to school. My kids took the public bus to secondary school and tickets are cheaper when purchased online.

Maireas · 02/07/2023 17:40

What would you be complaining to the school about?

Calloffruity · 02/07/2023 17:44

StephanieSuperpowers · 02/07/2023 17:27

There were a number of posters who mentioned that they and their partner and children keep a kind of circular watch on each other, including checking if dad has gone to tesco on the way home.

Show quote history

That was me and I didn't say we were checking if dad had gone to Tesco on the way home, you're taking it out of context.

What I actually said was DD likes to track him on his way home (she's a 12yo autistic child who finds the tracker fun, and looks forward to DH getting home, she will excitedly tell me when he's nearby) - IF she sees that he's popped into Tesco (as an example) then he doesn't feel that his privacy has been invaded because we knew his whereabouts.

BeyondMyWits · 02/07/2023 17:47

Maireas · 02/07/2023 17:40

What would you be complaining to the school about?

No phone, no app, no bus ticket. How do they get home?

Who would choose to buy more expensive bus tickets.

Calloffruity · 02/07/2023 17:48

Peter12345678 · 02/07/2023 17:11

Why do you ask your DH to text you when he lands? Are you afraid of his plane crashing?

Manners are very different to stalking.

Hmm, I think in a happy trusting marriage, if a husband readily gives his wife his flight details and she has a look on flight radar to see where his plane is, that's not really the definition of stalking 🤣

Maireas · 02/07/2023 17:49

BeyondMyWits · 02/07/2023 17:47

No phone, no app, no bus ticket. How do they get home?

Who would choose to buy more expensive bus tickets.

Show quote history

Do you mean if the phone gets confiscated?
Then the parent gets contacted and makes arrangements or the student has the phone returned for essential reasons. That's what happens where I work.
Parents usually have a contingency plan, we find.

Boudicasbeard · 02/07/2023 17:51

Phones are becoming the biggest problem in schools and the main cause of behaviour issues both during the school day and at home. Here are some of the example of things seemingly nice children have done with their phones at my school recently:

  • texted gossip to each other under the table during class that caused a fight at lunch.
  • taken nudes in the toilet to send to other students.
  • distributed nudes that they have received from other children.
  • taking videos of a member of staff and posting it on TikTok with disparaging comments.
  • starting a Snap Chat to deliberately start arguments between people that later cause fights.
  • looking up porn and airdropping the photos to other students in class.
  • taking picture of other students and auto dropping them to the entire class.
  • googling Jeffrey Epstein and then sending the information to other kids.
I could go in for HOURS. Phones are the bane of every teacher’s existence. They cause behavioural issues beyond anything we’ve ever seen. And kids are so addicted to them that they literally twitch to touch their screen in their pockets every five minutes.

I once asked a group of Yr9 student to check their weekly screen time as an experiment and the average was seven hours a day.

So this is why many schools are now taking a hard line on phone. It all sounds unreasonable until your child has been targeted or involved in any of the above behaviours.