Devices at lunchtime?

[FithColumnist]

I'm aware this isn't AIBU, but... AIBU to ban devices like smartphones from my Y7 tutor room at break and lunchtime, and expect them to go out and play instead? Just that, really.

Hasn't the school got a policy in this already in place ?

You will need to stick with the school policy. You can't have a separate rule/ expectation for your tutor group.

They'll just go and stand outside on their phones instead, if going on their phone is what they want to do.

Why are you supervising your tutor group at lunchtime anyway?

The official policy is that devices are permitted in classrooms at break/lunch at the teacher's discretion. A lot of teachers just let them get on with it, and so there are kids that don't move from their tutor room for the entire lunch hour, just sitting there with the curtains drawn fiddling away on their smartphones: I'm of the opinion that this is pretty unhealthy (also the beeping gets right on my nerves).

EvilTwins I'm not really supervising them per se, the room is my classroom and I generally work in there over lunch. Through choice, I hasten to add: I prefer working through lunch and knocking off early than working for a few hours after school or taking a load home with me.

I worked at a school like this. It really stopped me getting work done as the kids became needy and constantly interrupted me. Ban the devices if it means you deter them from coming in and you can work. And they can breathe fresh air.

Is it the school policy that students may hang out in their form room if supervised?
If so, how about locking your room and working in the teachers' workroom (if such a think exists at your school) instead, or alternatively, working in your room and putting a notice on the door saying it is no longer available as a leisure venue?

Y7 should be out doing clubs

Can't believe some schools still allow this what with all the cyberbullying and E-safety policies most good schools have in place.

Your school should be banning the use of mobile phones on school site like nearly every school I know. And students shouldn't even be allowed in the building at break and lunch.

And they can't just go on their phones in the playground either. Supervisors are always patrolling and phones can be confiscated for up to a week.

Obviously they'll always try and do it sneakily and lots may get away with it but it's not out of control and we hardly see phones at my school anymore

Our school has a policy, all students phones handed in beginning of the day and can have back end of day. We are a SN school though so unaware of what others do.

One of the schools I worked at (left 2005) was quite quick on the uptake with this. it was agreed, democratically, not imposed, that kids on phones all day WAS A BAD THING, so with the agreed cooperation (given how much extra work it put them to) of the support staff, every student was told to place their phone into a labeled baggie as they entered the school (OOH! Just think how long that queue was! You had to get to school at least half an hour earlier!) and pick it up at the end of the day, when bizarrely, there were only two people staffing the phone post. Just think how long it took to get it back!
OK some kids had to go through it because there were practical reasons (REALLY?) why they had to be in one-second contact with somebody all day rather than the office staff walking down the corridor with a phone message from home, which afaik caused no-one to die all the years I was at school, but otherwise, phone irritation dropped to minimal in a very short time.
I fucking hated that HT but that was one thing he aced.

DD just finished year 7, were allowed phones at break, and some do sit on them all lunch time. However these havent formed relationships as well as those who dont. Most go out to hang out and muck around.

Aren't they a bit old to "go out and play" though? Our Y6s barely even play at break or lunch, unless it's football.

If they had nothing else to do, they would go outside. If, as everyone of my generation was MADE to do, unless it was siling down, they would go outside and be forced to find something to do. Something that might require them to use some energy and imagination.
If there is no better reason, they will reduce their now well-publicised chances of being VitD deficient if they even visit the cloudy outside world for 20 mins a day. Face and arms. 20 mins. Northern sun. No suncream.
Running around a bit will probably help them to avoid obesity too. Worked for my kids, but how many boys don't want to play football at break?

If it's at your discretion then ban them. Or you could allow them for 20 minutes or so and then put them away or out. How long is lunch time at your school? At my last school they had an hour - so lots of time to eat lunch and do a club.

YANBU. At the school where my DSis teaches they have a ban on the use of most devices that can access the internet, it includes the staff so they can't use tablets in school. Phones are allowed but that is all.

Witch to be honest, not allowing staff to use tablets sounds counter productive.
At schools around here they are used to support learning and are especially useful in sixth form classes where pupils may be studying subjects (like politics or law) which require up to date knowledge. It's useful for a pupil or teacher to be able to look up information without interrupting the class PowerPoint etc.

Carries I don't know the reasoning behind it TBH. DSis can use school tablets but personal ones are banned. Presumably it is something to do with confidentiality.

If it's at your discretion then say no if you wish.

Teenagers not on phones will do what generations of teenagers have done before them. Hang out in the playground and talk shit. They don't neeeed their phones at all. If our kids need to make a phone ca thy go to the office and use phone

GinandJag, lunch break at the last two schools I've worked at has been 35 mins. They have barely enough time to pee and eat. Thera re no lunchtime clubs.

I can't get excited about this. Mobile phones aren't going anywhere, and IMO if kids are just left to get on with it, there are fewer issues. We are introducing a BYOD (bring your own device) system this year so kids can use mobile devices in lessons if directed by teachers. I think high expectations are key. There is absolutely no evidence that cyber bullying happens more when children are allowed their phones during school hours. My main concern with the OP's post is that she works in a schools which seems to have an expectation that teachers will supervise tutor rooms at lunchtime.

It's not the cyber-bullying that concerns me. It's the potential for off-taskness that Your Own Device brings with it. And the insurance. And the maintenance. Our IT team has already stated they are not prepared to do a quick fix on anything brought in from home, partly for insurance reasons, partly because they can't be expected to have that much knowledge at their fingertips. How can bring-your-own devices be secured for use in CA? What if it conks out or your brother needs it that day? How do you print from them?
I suppose the idea is that everything you do is saved to a cloud-type-thingy. I can't begin to tell you what a HOOT that was last year!