Does your child's school restrict mobile phone usage?

[Toughlove70]

Do any of your kids' schools ban phones during school day including breaks? What are the penalties if pupils don't comply? Can you advise the name of the school so we can check the policy? We are in Scotland and virtually no schools ban phones and they say it is not effective in practise... we disagree... thanks

We are in NSW, Australia. No phones allowed in any school. Kids can bring them but they must stay in locker / school bag all day.

So what do they do for kids whose travel tickets are on an app on their phone? Or kids who use apps to monitor blood sugars etc? Or SEN kids who rely on calendars and other apps?

Do they use no apps for homework (we have loads - Satchel, Go4Schools, Memrise, Sparks etc etc)?

Or does every child just live round the corner?

Our school had a very relaxed policy. Has just brought in the 'no phones to be used in corridors' rule which has not gone down well. In practice, the kids use their phones a lot and are encouraged to use them by teachers. Last minute room changes, changes to sporting fixtures, taking photos of work set on the board to continue for homework, photographing forms to save on photocopying, liaising about transport issues, using Quizlet, accessing their timetables, using Google Classroom etc. How to other schools manage this stuff?

Our school serves a very wide geographical area with lots relying on buses, trains, lift shares etc so not uncommon to need to contact kids during the day.

This is largely why I’m unsure of the benefits of draconian bans on phones. The problem is, they’re here, they are part of life, we can’t shut Pandora’s box again. There’s no way schools can enforce children not on phones out of school time.

Schools have managed to do many of those communication based things perfectly well without phones for many years. I wouldn’t be keen on a school being so reliant on phones, especially smartphones, for everything. What happens when children don’t have a phone? What happens if they forget their phone?

ds school uses quizlet and similar sometimes but they use the computers not relying on doing work on a small phone screen.

Perhaps our school is more disorganised? I wouldn't surprised! 😉

They don't have computers as standard in teaching rooms, only for IT. For older year groups, they use their smartphones, everyone has one. If for reason they don't, they have to share with a friend. Eg. An art activity they had to go around the grounds and photograph things.

For the younger years, they've introduced a scheme whereby parents now need to buy a tablet for use in school/homework. I'm glad we don't have that tbh.

Dds school they are allowed it anywhere but classroom if teacher hasnt said so. However no punishment if out only a simple 'put it away' i hate it

My son’s school uses loads of apps for homework (Sparx, educake, Seneca etc), but that doesn’t contradict the phone ban because he does his homework at home on his laptop. The students who want/need to do their homework at school use the computers in the library at homework club.

So what do they do for kids whose travel tickets are on an app on their phone? Or kids who use apps to monitor blood sugars etc? Or SEN kids who rely on calendars and other apps?

Do they use no apps for homework (we have loads - Satchel, Go4Schools, Memrise, Sparks etc etc)?

In the same way children didn’t need to take their bus pass into the classroom or walk around with it at break or on way to school, it’s kept in their bag like a ticket for their journey. Ditto the medical reasons, it’s used like a piece of medical equipment, not to access social media during school hours.
Calendars and other apps can be used through tablets, or desktops at school and at home - no school can make it compulsory for pupils- particularly SEN pupils- to provide a smartphone for learning administration.

I'm in the US - the local elementary schools ban them during the school day. Kids can't use them between 8 and 3, essentially. The high school allows kids to use them between classes and at lunch, but during class, phones have to be put in a phone cubby. It has been a positive move.

The school I was referring to had a ban on phones travelling to/from school as well. Hence the question.

Very different if it's one where they're just not used onsite.

All 3 of my kids schools have a "if we see it, we take it" policy for mobile phones. If a teachers sees a child's phone, they confiscate it. First offence it's back at the end of the day. After that parents have to come in and collect it otherwise they don't get it back.

When eldest dc started secondary it was no phones at all and if seen it would be confiscated for 6 weeks but it’s changed this year to switched off and in bag all day and a one week confiscation if seen/heard.

The 6 week confiscation created a lot of hassle whereas parents will live with a one week confiscation. The outright ban no longer works because the arsehole bus company is cashless and you need a smartphone or debit card for the bus and the app on the smartphone is a significantly cheaper fare.

DS's school had a phone ban, if caught its confiscated and parents have to collect it.

The school I work at also has a ban, it gets confiscated the they can collect it at the end of the day for first offence second time parents have to collect. I've got no idea why they are all obsessed with trying to use them as there is no bloody signal where I work.

Ours has a school hours ban for Y7 and Y8 - phones get handed in during morning form time and given back in afternoon form time. So no temptation to get them out of bags, etc.

The policy has been really popular and successful and they're now saying they'll roll it out school-wide.

Phones must be switched off and in bags or blazer pockets when on school premises. Occasionally they are permitted to film or photograph lesson resources, but usually they are off and away.

First offence being caught with a phone is a break time detention. 3 break time detentions means confiscation and a parent has to visit the school to retrieve it.

However, homework is set on a student app that all students are expected to access. So there's an expectation they will have a smart phone outside of school.

From the policy. As above though there is an expectation they will have access to some kind of device as homework is on an app.

In order to minimise classroom disruption, to prevent cyber bullying and the student use of inappropriate websites, the school does not allow students in Years 7-11 to use personal mobile devices in school, including ear and headphones (for sixth form policy see sixth form handbook). These include mobile phones, MP3 players, iPhones and smart watches. If students choose to bring mobile devices/ear/headphones into school, they must remain switched off whilst on site. These items must be stored out of sight in students’ bags.
Please note that we cannot accept responsibility for valuable items that are lost or stolen.
Should a student be seen with a mobile device/ear/headphones on the premises, it will be confiscated until the end of half-term or until the student’s parent/carer makes an appointment to come in and collect it. If a student needs to contact home in an emergency, they can speak to their Form Tutor, Head of Year or Student Services.

Yes. All phones must be locked in Faraday pouches and deposited in a rack in the morning. Unlocked and returned at 4pm each day.

I'm a teacher and I think this is the only way. If students are allowed phones in school and on their person, it is virtually impossible to prevent them being used when students aren't under close and constant supervision,especially at break, lunch or on toilet trips, but also to a certain extent in lessons.

Why should schools have to collect them in each morning? What a waste of staff time. I’m sure they’d also love to be dealing with the pupil or parent that complains a school has damaged the phone whilst it was in their storage. What’s the thinking behind them then getting phones back for afternoon break? So they can walk around like zombies not interacting with other pupils, but at least they can catch up with the zombie social media content they’ve missed? @JassyRadlett

@OhCrumbsWhereNow so, knowing that there was a ban on phones, the DC's travel cards (for the train) are paper - I imagine other parents do the same. There are some children who are allowed to bring phones to school and hand them in - an example we were given was "single parents who do shift work that might change" - but the school office are genuinely brilliant at passing on messages to children (and vice versa). And there are prefects on all trains/ buses that younger children could conceivably be on, and members of staff on the station platforms - who also alert parents in trains are delayed etc. Not sure what happens regarding measuring blood sugar - presumably it's done the way it was before there was an app for it? And homework is set in class, and some is done on a laptop - via Sparx or whatever - but a lot is done on paper, in books.

There are other schools for parents who don't want these phone rules, and they're easy to get places at. This school, with these rules, is the most oversubscribed in the area. It also gets the best results, and it's a lovely lovely school with lots of Extra Curriculars and great teachers.

We live in a village with kids coming from quite a way on buses to get to school so phone are allowed on site but have to be off and away in bags at all times

The 'It must be switched off and in the bottom of your bag' rule just doesn't work, I'm afraid. It is easy for secondary school kids to use their phones in unsupervised areas during break times, or to have them in their pocket and take them on toilet trips. Some teachers will ask students who ask to go to the toilet in lesson time to hand in their phone before they go, or leave it out on their desk. Some kids will comply. Others will just say they don't have their phone, or will keep an old phone in their bag to hand in!

Our secondary has never allowed them to be used in school. They confiscate them if kids are found with them and parents have to collect
I don't have a problem with that policy and I don't think the kids do either. I find it odd that kids might be on their phone in lessons? Does that happen?

Many schools gave a not seen or heard policy. So they are meant to be switched off and out of sight all day. If they are seen with the phone it is confiscated. Most kids are pretty canny about keeping them quiet and out of sight. I am sure they use them in the loos or when not directly supervised though.

Part of a successful phone policy is having parents signed up and setting up decent parental controls. My son's phone is set up so that he can't access the internet on his phone during the school day. And if I saw he had been using it to message at break time or during lessons I wouldn't let him take it to school at all.