Schools which allow mobile phones: how bad is it? Experiences?

[ParentOfOne]

There is a state secondary school that we like, other than for its mobile policy: while many schools do not allow mobile phones at all (some do not allow phones on their premises at all, some let kids drop them off at reception), this school has a policy that the phone must be neither seen nor heard.

All the teacher friends we spoke to oppose this kind of policy, because:

• kids will break the rules
• kids will use smartwatches or other devices to get notifications, even if the phone is locked in the bag
• kids will glue themselves to the screen at break times, instead of socialising with each other

My question is: how many of you have kids in a school with this kind of mobile phone policy, and what is your experience?

I have read The Anxious Generation and I agree with all the points on the negative impact of mobiles on young people https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171681821-the-anxious-generation

My child’s school has this policy. I’ve had 3 children go through the school and it’s been fine.
it works well with bus travel as all the local buses (including the school ones) are cash free and you have to pre buy passes and use an app to ride the bus. Without a phone they wouldn’t get to school!
the ‘not seen or heard’ rule also applies to break times so if they get seen on a phone at break it gets confiscated for the day.
it works very well for my child with SEN. She is unable to speak to adults at school when she is ill/in danger/distressed so it’s a safety net that she can message me from a toilet and I can sort out what is needed/go get her.

I see. In our case transport is not an issue, because we are in London and kids of that age get a child Oyster card, with their photo, which parents top up.

So you're basically saying that, as long as the policy is enforced properly during breaks, too, there isn't much of a difference?
May I ask how big the school is? This school has a decent-size garden / courtyard, so it would be quite easy for kids to get together during a break, watch TikToks etc, and make the phone disappear if they see a teacher approaching.

My kids go to 2 different schools and they both allow phones but they must not be used/seen during the school day or will be confiscated. They keep them off and in their school bags . It means they have them for before and after school for travel. I wouldn’t be too happy if they allowed them at break/lunch so I would check if that is the case.

Like the PP, schools in our area allow them turned off in bags but they are not allowed out during break. Some kids do use them eg in the toilets. My son only takes his phone to school if he is going somewhere after, and his phone is set to downtime during school hours. This means he couldnt check or reply to any messages that were sent. The policy works well, but one school is moving to total ban which I prefer.

My school has this policy and it works fine. Kids come from a very wide area, most arriving by bus so they use their phones then, which is fine. As soon as they get to the bus stop, phones need to be switched off and put into bags. They can have them back when they get back to the bus stop at the end of the day.

Unlike many schools, we use teacher discretion. So for example, if a fixture is cancelled on the day, I allow my students to get their phone out and call or text home then put the phone away. If we see phones out during the day without good reason (e.g. diabetic students checking blood sugar levels), we remove them until the end of the day and log it on behaviour management. In my 23 years there, I have confiscated precisely zero handsets.

I looked round two schools which had the rule that phones must be locked in lockers during the day. At both schools I asked the heads if this policy worked and if kids adhered to it and they assured me it did work, that there as no need for anything stricter.

In the first school:

• our Y7 tour guide said that not only did children sneak their phones out, but that in an art lesson the teacher told them they could get them out of their lockers to play music on YouTube to inspire them. Remember: I’d been assured by the head that all phones were left in lockers. The teacher said they could do this because YouTube was blocked on school devices and so the teacher wanted them to be able to get round this, and obviously knew no one was adhering to the locker rule.
• a sixth former stood in the tuck shop queue used her phone within a few metres of admissions staff. The rule for sixth formers was that phones could be used only in the sixth former centre (which isn’t where we were).

In the second school:

• we went into a DT lesson,Y10 or 11 I’d guess. The children were sitting in a circle around the teacher, all with their phones out, which the teacher must have instructed them to do for the lesson. I could see two or three children checking their messages/Tiktok, so clearly not being used for the lesson.

As adults we are unable to moderate our own smartphone use so it beggars belief that any teacher thinks that children in their school can successfully self-regulate. I do not think you can believe anyone who tells you otherwise (this is based mainly on what numerous teacher friends have told me).

Only in schools with the strongest penalties is there any prospect that the rule will be semi-adhered to. In secondary in the next town from us the rule is that if you are caught with your phone then it is confiscated for the rest of that half term. That might be enough to deter most, but I’m sure phones are still being used in the toilets.

The school where I work as an exam
invigilator don’t allow phones out but it’s not enforced as the students walk around with them in plain sight: calling, messaging and scrolling and no one challenges them. In fact just yesterday, a student I was trying to encourage into the exam room answered a call while I was talking to her then just wandered off chatting on her phone.
Saying that, the school was deemed inadequate in all areas by Ofsted earlier this year so no surprise really.

I agree with KitsPoint above. It would be a deal breaker for me and I completely agree that children cannot self regulate and policing that many children in break times etc would be an impossible task. My daughter's school uses Yondr pouches and they are effective. They are locked in the morning and unlocked when they leave. Yes there may be the odd older child who has a second phone and locks away the other, but my daughter has never seen anyone with a phone in a toilet or anywhere else, so I'm not sure there are that many doing this, especially not in the younger years. So in her school the Yondr pouch has been highly effective.

I assumed most secondary schools have such a policy. This is the policy at my daughters’ school. An outright ban on phones would surely be difficult because they need the phone to travel to and from school (tickets for public transport) and pay for things on their phone. Dropping off at reception is surely a huge admin faff. I don’t believe their school allows smart watches.

This school policy states
Your mobile phone should be switched off and out of sight during the school day,
including in the Study. If you must make an emergency call, you should do so at Break or Lunch when you may leave site

A phone seen or heard is confiscated and picked up by parents after 24 hours.

As @KitsPoint says, that's the theory, but it all depends on how much the policy is enforced. I do not expect honest answers from the teachers.

I appreciate that some people may need phone but that should be looked at on an individual basis. I fear that this policy is too loose.

@Massivescreen
An outright ban on phones would surely be difficult because they need the phone to travel to and from school (tickets for public transport) and pay for things on their phone

This may apply elsewhere but not in London, where children travel with a child oyster card that parents top up;
tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/11-15-zip-oyster-photocard
plus children can have a child debit card linked to the parents' account. We survived just fine commuting to schools without phones. Our children will survive, too

My kids walk to school - so don’t need a phone for their tickets. Arguably they could take their bank card or cash to buy things from the shop.

I’m not sure I like the idea of them walking to and from school with no way of contacting them. Fine I could buy them a Nokia each - but would everyone do that ? Plus it’s extra money / buying stuff we don’t really need etc.

Phones are awful for teenagers. Believe me - I’m living through it !! The struggle is real!! But removing them from high schools is a nice idea in theory - but in practice I think it’s harder, plus not all parents would agree to it.

My dd’s school allow phones (but not to be seen or heard or used during the school day). She keeps it in her blazer pocket. I’m aware of zero issues due to this policy, she never accesses WhatsApp etc during the school day unless the teacher allows them to get their phones out (this sometimes happens to eg google something or use converters to support learning or take a photo as part of a class). She gets notifications on her smart watch, again zero issues due to this. I’m quite happy that she is able to communicate to me on the way to/from home and during the school day in the toilets if she really needed to (she never has). As long as the school does police it and has a zero tolerance policy I think this is a much safer policy tbh.

by the way the break/lunch areas are open courtyard/field etc with teachers attending, she’s never mentioned anyone using their phones and she 100% doesn’t risk using hers.

Do you mind if I ask how they manage exceptions to this rule?

Do they just accept that DCs who need their phones with them at all times, and on, for medical reasons will be allowed to do so, as Yondr pouches won't be appropriate for these DCs.

I don't know.

Our school has a very serious “never seen, never heard” rule. The exceptions are for e.g. insulin pumps, and staff know who these pupils are.

If a child needs to use their phone, they can request to go to the office and use their phone to make a call under supervision. This is almost always for “my after school sports club/match has been cancelled/I need to stay late for cricket” and the like.

Penalties are applied without exception and are severe. It works well.