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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:
Maireas · 02/07/2023 17:55

@Boudicasbeard is right. All the research shows that schools should not permit use in school time. We had many, many similar examples. Bullying and harassment - particularly of girls, is especially facilitated. I'm not saying banning phones gets rid of problems completely, but my goodness it cuts them down.
Filming in toilets and up skirting had become quite the thing.

redskytwonight · 02/07/2023 17:55

DNAwrangler · 02/07/2023 16:53

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!

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"feeling" that something is best doesn't mean that it is best though.
I think one of the benefits of a forum like this is not for people to find an echo chamber but to have their beliefs challenged and to (hopefully) consider why they do something.

OP has had several points of view regarding tracking on this thread. I would hope that she would now think about why she is tracking her child. Is it because she is overanxious? Or does DC have a habit of getting lost?

One thing I would say is that people shouldn't use trackers as a substitute for the young person learning a skill or for keeping communication lines open. If a secondary school age child gets lost, then I would hope they would have ideas about how to get "unlost" that didn't involve ringing mum. letting mum find them on the tracker and then suggesting the route home. That's not helping them build skills or independence. Equally if you use a tracker because you never have any idea where your child is or when they will be home, then perhaps it might be better to work on getting your child to communicate effectively rather than using the tracker as a proxy for actually talking to each other.

BlockbusterVideoCard · 02/07/2023 18:05

I'd be telling the school that I require my child to carry a mobile phone for travel and safety reasons (to be switched off during school hours) and that I wouldn't be taking no for an answer, but that any phone use in the daytime I would as a parent be taking at least as seriously as the school did.

I have no patience whatsoever with schools trying to police how parents parent their children and keep them safe. I would supply my child with the most boring phone that would do the job - probably not a smartphone, although if a smartphone was needed for bus or train time apps, then a cheap version of that, locked down to what they needed.

MariaVT65 · 02/07/2023 18:07

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.

Is there any way that phones could be handed in and stored in a locked cupboard in each form and then collected at the end of the day?

Maireas · 02/07/2023 18:07

@BlockbusterVideoCard that's what schools are doing. As said upthread - have it on silent in bag or pocket, no problem.

Maireas · 02/07/2023 18:08

MariaVT65 · 02/07/2023 18:07

Is there any way that phones could be handed in and stored in a locked cupboard in each form and then collected at the end of the day?

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That's done for exams, but would be too much to do for 1,800 teenagers (or whatever your school size)

MariaVT65 · 02/07/2023 18:10

Maireas · 02/07/2023 18:08

That's done for exams, but would be too much to do for 1,800 teenagers (or whatever your school size)

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That’s why i said each form. So 30.

Maireas · 02/07/2023 18:11

MariaVT65 · 02/07/2023 18:10

That’s why i said each form. So 30.

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What - the form tutor does it, you mean?

MariaVT65 · 02/07/2023 18:12

Maireas · 02/07/2023 18:11

What - the form tutor does it, you mean?

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I’m asking about a scenario where there is a locked cupboard/drawer/locker or something in each form/classroom where phones are kept during the day, and the kids collect them at the end of the day.

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 18:16

That sounds like a complete nightmare. 30 phones in a box. 30 kids. "Mis, Miss- Josh took my phone...that's mine!".....

Peter12345678 · 02/07/2023 18:16

Who’s got time for that?
Are you volunteering?

MariaVT65 · 02/07/2023 18:19

Well you’re all coming up with problems so you make a better suggestion then. It worked at the school I went to.

redskytwonight · 02/07/2023 18:20

Taking in and locking away phones would be a logistical nightmare. It means the whole class has to come together in the same place at the beginning and end of every day (and there needs to be a method for retrieving them for students leaving early). Then you need time to lock them away and time to give them out again. Phones will get damaged or lost. And frankly teens will just refuse to hand them in. And how do you then prove they have a phone they've not handed in? Compulsory bag searches?

redskytwonight · 02/07/2023 18:20

MariaVT65 · 02/07/2023 18:19

Well you’re all coming up with problems so you make a better suggestion then. It worked at the school I went to.

Was that a very small school by any chance? Or a primary school?

redskytwonight · 02/07/2023 18:21

The suggestion of keeping the child's phone in their bag switched off (or in their locker if they have one that is secure) is much simpler and seems to have no downsides.

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 18:22

"Well you’re all coming up with problems so you make a better suggestion then. It worked at the school I went to."

Easy. Phones off and at the bottom of bags. Immediate confiscation if seen or heard. Only released to a parent.

MariaVT65 · 02/07/2023 18:23

redskytwonight · 02/07/2023 18:20

Was that a very small school by any chance? Or a primary school?

Show quote history

Yes absolutely it was a smaller school but it still worked. Phones were actually handed into reception and there was no problem. The fact that other schools are bigger is why I have suggested in each class/form room, not reception. Just a suggestion. Obv not good enough and no one is willing to try it. So other people can come up with something better.

MariaVT65 · 02/07/2023 18:24

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 18:22

"Well you’re all coming up with problems so you make a better suggestion then. It worked at the school I went to."

Easy. Phones off and at the bottom of bags. Immediate confiscation if seen or heard. Only released to a parent.

Yes that’s fine, so i don’t understand why that doesn’t seem to be the case at PP’s school with all the porn going round and phones in pockets. Hence why I suggested locked cupboard.

Boudicasbeard · 02/07/2023 18:25

Parental attitudes and total ignorance of how the technology works is the main problem.

The main issue with having them in schools is the areas you cannot police i.E- toilets.

Kids are texting to arrange meet ups to vape, have sex, commit vandalism, bully and fight in the loos. We have got to the pony now where we only have one working toilet block because they’ve been flushing vapes down the loo and blocking them.

And this is a lovely school in a very nice, rural area with most of our students from apparently good homes.

The upskirting is sickening but so subtle that we almost don’t know about it unless a girl is brave enough to tell us it has happened.

But yeah, tracking your kid home on the bus is far more important than preventing sexual assaults and putting a stop to phone related abuse.

Get a GPS tracking watch. It works just as well and it doesn’t have SnapChat.

CurlewKate · 02/07/2023 18:27

"Obv not good enough and no one is willing to try it."

If the kids are all leaving at the end of the day from their form room, then it might work. But they don't-at a big school they could be a quarter of a mile away!

Maireas · 02/07/2023 18:28

MariaVT65 · 02/07/2023 18:19

Well you’re all coming up with problems so you make a better suggestion then. It worked at the school I went to.

It's possible. I suppose there's the issue of liability.

Maireas · 02/07/2023 18:29

redskytwonight · 02/07/2023 18:21

The suggestion of keeping the child's phone in their bag switched off (or in their locker if they have one that is secure) is much simpler and seems to have no downsides.

That is usual school policy. Seems to work.

Maireas · 02/07/2023 18:33

If I hear a phone go off I say "whoever owns that phone, please put it onto silent" they do. If a child puts their hand up and says "can I put my phone on silent please, I forgot" of course I let them.
It's the wilfully using them and ye gods the arguments (always, always "I need to contact my Mum!) and the time wasted that are the problem.

FKATondelayo · 02/07/2023 18:35

Boudicasbeard · 02/07/2023 18:25

Parental attitudes and total ignorance of how the technology works is the main problem.

The main issue with having them in schools is the areas you cannot police i.E- toilets.

Kids are texting to arrange meet ups to vape, have sex, commit vandalism, bully and fight in the loos. We have got to the pony now where we only have one working toilet block because they’ve been flushing vapes down the loo and blocking them.

And this is a lovely school in a very nice, rural area with most of our students from apparently good homes.

The upskirting is sickening but so subtle that we almost don’t know about it unless a girl is brave enough to tell us it has happened.

But yeah, tracking your kid home on the bus is far more important than preventing sexual assaults and putting a stop to phone related abuse.

Get a GPS tracking watch. It works just as well and it doesn’t have SnapChat.

Completely agree. I made all these points and more a few pages ago but ignored. Apparently smartphones are a Human Right and no vulnerable 11 year old can possibly travel to school without them but also they will definitely keep them in their bag untouched all day. Smartphones are crucial to preventing assault and abduction - which are strangely still increasing despite everyone carrying one.

My kids school (in London, many pupils coming on tube & bus) manages to have a total ban on having them at all and the sky hasn't fallen in.

thing47 · 02/07/2023 18:35

I know this is very much a minority issue, but just to say my DCs use phones and bluetooth technology to monitor their Type I diabetes. Basically you hold your phone over a device attached to you (usually your arm) and that gives you a reading which informs you what insulin dosage to dial up on your pump (or whether you need sweets!).

This is relatively new tech, and my DCs are way past school age but it's going to become increasingly common. Possibly other conditions might use similar tech? So schools are possibly going to have to think a bit more laterally than blanket bans…