Mobile phone ban in school- not sure what is reasonable!

[greenmarsupial]

My children’s secondary school have just sent out an email about the new DfE guidance on mobile phones in school. Currently, they are allowed to bring them but they must be off and in their bags during the school day.

The school are consulting parents on options but with a heavy steer. It sounds like any lockable option is time -consuming and expensive so they would probably like to just say no phones whatsoever.

I do fully support the school and would reinforce rules around phones but for some reason this has made me quite cross as I feel it oversteps. My kids often go to the local leisure centre after school- they need the app to book and get in. They need Apple Pay to buy anything… I appreciate we could probably ask if the leisure centre does physical cards and they could carry a bank card so there are get arounds but why do we need to when that’s not the direction of travel for most things?

I am far from in constant contact with my kids but I do find it helpful to check their location and for them to be able to let me know if they need collecting - the plan is normally to walk but if friends don’t go or a club us cancelled then we need to communicate. I’m all for them having restrictions but I think that’s my place as a parent.

I’m happy to be told I’m wrong about all this- my gut reaction was just to be annoyed. I know we didn’t have tracking and text in the 90s but I was definitely a teen who was rarely where I told my parents I was so maybe it’s paranoia although this generation seem almost too sensible 😂

I actually googled that-no data. I would assume not many, or at least not many that have a locker for every pupil. DD’s school does have them and we have to pay for them.

The DFE uses lockers however as a case study and an option.

What they want is for pupils not to USE their phones during school time. They don’t say pupils shouldn’t have phones at all. It is up to individual schools how they decide to manage that.

I’ve done interviewed teachers about this (and other things related to behaviour issues) when I was at university and they’re pretty split on it. However I have also talked to a campus police officer who’s been on the force in some capacity since 1995 and he said in all most every case involving young people he’s been on since 2015 social media played a part in it. From SA to murder. That kind of put it in perspective a bit for me, but I still don’t really know the answer

The OP’s school is asking for a vote on a zero phone policy (so not even in their bags) or spend significant funds on the phone pouches.

As many people have already explained, we had physical bus passes, buses that routinely used cash, pay phones readily available etc.

But that costs a lot more. Contactless is only accepted for daily fares. You can’t buy a monthly ticket that way. It also often declines prepaid / un18 cards as it’s not a live system and allows people to go overdrawn by only authorising 1p.

We did, but this has changed in recent years. It'll take time and money to change everything back.

Dcs school had a complete phone ban for years but started to allow “switched off in bag” about 4 years ago, just when other schools were going for bans, when the local bus company ditched their physical cards/passes and went app/bank card only. The bank card option meant no child fares, no daily/weekly cap, no passes so the fares for kids going to school quadrupled for some families. I would personally have been over £600 a month worse off if they hadn’t allowed phones. People who say “we survived” or “teach them independence” etc seem to not realise that we don’t have paper tickets, plastic passes, payphones etc. how many people going to school in the 80s via 2 buses would be happy with a plastic pass ban and pay phone ban? That is essentially the position these kids are in. They are not lacking independence or unable to figure things out - they are living in a world where you can’t access basic services without a phone.

That said, it’s absolutely ridiculous that the cost of the secure pouches isn’t passed onto the parent/kid who wants their phone in school.

Brick phones are literally dumb. Can still text mates and play snake but can’t access podcasts and homework apps, leisure centre passes, and bus passes and train tickets.

Sure, but buying new brick phones is another expense. And some children do need phones because of how the world is now set up.

This is shocking and of course parents in that situation will choose the phone. But isn’t it crazy how we are all accepting that what is easiest for the big companies making all the money, is what is winning, and not what is best for children’s well-being? That we are getting frustrated with the schools that are responsibly trying to protect kids, and less so with the companies who don’t give a shit about that?

I’m not saying they should buy brick phones. I’m saying brick phones still have a lot of the distracting features of smart phones without the advantages.

That’s kind of my point.

If we want children using devices less we need to put in the infrastructure that supports that.

Tbh although the bus company really bothers me (the app situation is for children over 5 and it doesn’t work on shitty old phones and is also an issue for vulnerable adults), it’s not their job to protect kids. The technology exists to physically lock phones in school. App blockers/restrictors exist. Parenting exists. I like having my train ticket on my phone, being able to send and collect parcels with my phone, check my bank account, transfer money, pay in shops and restaurants with my phone, listen to library books and podcasts on my phone, book appointments and gym classes etc on my phone. Getting rid of all of this to “protect” 11-16 year olds (99% of whom have unfettered phone access the 16 or so hours a day they aren’t in school) instead of buying a £13.50 pouch seems disproportionate and backwards.

Sorry, yes, I see that now!

There's every difference. No one is suggesting kids should be using them during the day but it's inconvenient, to say the least, for them not to have them at all if their bus ticket to get home is on their phone, for example.

I know. I was replying to the person asking how we coped.

In our area, it costs almost 50% more to use contactless than to buy a pass. You need a phone and the app the get a pass though.

I think locked away would be the best option, however there is cost (of lockers) and practicality to consider.

An outright ban (even if switched off) would be appalling and they would end up having to make lots of exceptions
Eg.
Children who use it to scan to get into gym after school
Children who move between houses on a school day
Children with medical needs who use phones (eg my daughter with dyslexia and allergies uses phone app to check ingredients; and there is also an emergency guide she can use if she has a reaction)
Children with complex journeys home or who go to work or extra curriculars straight from school
Children with caring responsibilities

And that's just the ones I can think of odd the top of my head

Agreed. There used to be loads of payphones. That option just doesn't exist any more

Ours have said they can have a phone, but it can't be a smartphone, just talk and text. This is a sensible option in terms of parents being able to communicate with their child in an emergency, but as mist teens want to be able to use whatts app etc, it then means keeping switching their sim card between 2 phones, or having 2 phone plans which is very expensive for parents

They do have an exemption for medical use, such as diabetes.

Does the school pay?

We were told a non smart phone was required but it wasn't enforced. It was annoying to shell out a couple of hundred quid for something that wasn't needed.

In less than a year the pouches have appeared. One was provided free, then replacement ones are charged at £10. DD is on her third. They have nowhere for a name label, which would help. Thinking of tagging it to her bag.

Does she lose the phone as well?

I don’t understand the logic. They can text each other all day long with all the associated disruption, but can’t use the bus or scan in at the gym. All the downsides of no phone, but still allowed to text. Surely it’s cheaper for parents to buy a pouch than a whole extra phone, and that’s before you get onto how much extra the bus costs without the app.

Exactly this. My child’s school moved away from physical lunch cards and gave them an app on their phone. They decided to bring in rules about phones and had to relax them when they realised how much the kids legitimately use their phones for that they would have to change.

Not only that, but my disabled daughter is frequently late for class or not where she should be (through no fault of her own) and they are supposed to update the register. I get frequent texts telling me she isn’t in school and I have to call them. At first I would call every time and this led to 20 minutes on the phone where they trawled round trying to find where she was. Now I just check find my iPhone to make sure she is in the building and send them a weekly email telling them to update the register so her attendance isn’t marked down. She also has a teams channel where she can contact ASNA when they have forgotten about her (again).

Most of all, if she needs me she can call me. That has happened a few times over the years. The school argues she can go to reception and ask to call home but this is always policed by teachers who will decide whether the child needs to call or not. In my day, we had a pay-phone in the school for that purpose. You can argue all you like about whether or not kids should be restricted from being in touch with their parents during the school day, but the world we have created for kids is that they are able to do that. Its entirely wrong just to take that away from them then blaming them for complaining about it.