Tories push for school phone ban as parents fear for children’s wellbeing – amid concerns teachers ignoring guidance

36 comments

1. There is no way I could have even remotely concentrated at school if I had a smartphone

2. I don’t disagree however why didn’t they implement it anytime in the last 14 years if they’re worried about it

3. Let’s blame teachers for something we didn’t give a shit about for 14 years.

4. Typical Tory, 14 years to do something and now want to do it after they get kicked out of office.

   For what it’s worth almost all decent schools have a ban in place already.

5. So why didn’t you guys do this when your party was in charge?

   Let’s be honest about these pronouncements the Tories are running scared of Farage and are trying to keep themselves in the news.

6. He he he, we do ignore guidance. I’m not taking responsibility for some kids 1000 pound phone so I’m not going to take it away from them. The places I’ve worked have no system to safe keep phones.

7. Why ooooh why do kids have phones in schools??? 

   My kids have one to walk to school, then they hand it in until the end of the day.

   It’s literally a no brainer!! Schools should enforce this, nothing to do with government.

8. Hang fire! Surely parents control children’s phones not teachers! We can’t search their bags

9. “Won’t somebody think of the children!”, more Tory hand wringing.

10. My high school had a phone ban back in 2005. Didn’t work. We still used them.

11. One of the main obstacles I think to an effective ban would be the parents who somehow think their child can be an exception to a reasonable rule at a school. The kind of exceptionalism to following rules that was the hallmark of Kemi Badenoch’s former leader whom she was in cabinet with, Boris Johnson.

12. It’s not that difficult to resolve this issue, schools I’ve worked at just take the phones in the morning then give them back at the end of the day, they’re taken at the gate and put in a box with their tutor group written on it. No phones in school and their children are safe because even if something did happen *in* school, the staff have phones to call the police as well as landlines in offices.

    But I guess it’s easier to blame teachers.

13. As a teacher my old school implemented this policy. Blanket ban. If you see a phone, it’s confiscated and they get it back at the end of the day from the office. I was sceptical at first, didn’t think it’d work or have any real impact apart from causing us hassle. However, it worked like a charm. Honestly, phones just disappeared and students ended up actually playing in the school yard again. No more students stood in circles ignoring each other. I realised, it wasn’t just about the lost learning, but the loss of social skills that hurt these young people’s education. I do think the schools do need good policies and systems around it though. If I confiscate something, I’m responsible, so there needs to be good plans in place to limit any issues. I’ve been really won over. Although I do appreciate different schools may need different approaches, it definitely worked in mine.

14. Now to pretend to care when all they did was take us backwards the last 14 years… And steal as much as possible for there rich friends…

15. [deleted]

16. I mean, this is just kinda dumb. Kids need phones to get to and from school to pay for travel and to make sure they can stay safe.

    Just have schools actually enforce rules so that first bell rings phones have to be away until last bell rings, and if a teacher sees a phone out, confiscate it and give kid detention.

    This doesn’t have to be a culture war issue where the government has to step in…

17. I haven’t worked in a school that doesn’t restrict the use anyway.

18. They’re correct, but why the fuck have they done nothing about it since 2007? Bitch bitch bitch, let the grown ups in charge.

19. Parents fear for their children’s wellbeing? Because they send them with a phone?

    Wellll how’s about you don’t send them to school with a phone then? And maybe stop passing the blame to the school.

20. Of course, teachers are to blame… Having worked in education for the past 16 years, the fight against mobile phones is never-ending. Most students respect such rules, but the ones that are not are supported by their parents. Dealing with those sorts of parents is exhausting.

21. This is so ridiculous. They think everyone is stupid.

    This is already the policy in schools.

22. Schools already can and do ban phones. The real issue is the 15 hours a day kids spend on their phones when not at school (actual figures from a y7s screen time I saw recently…)

23. Over 70% of schools have a phone ban already, what a nothing article

24. Genuine question, is anything ever implemented that requires parents to do more? I so often see parents in these situations complaining about how easy it is to access bad content on the Internet, but then are shocked that parental controls exist. It seems as though they think all the responsibility should be on the platform and not on them.

25. Full of good ideas now they are not busy robbing the tax payer.

26. If this ever happens it will revolutionise education as we have seen it in the last few years.

    As a teacher, I have seen behaviour, attainment, engagement and mental health plummit since I began in 2011. It is in free fall. It’s out of control. And those who say it’s not an issue are ignorant of the effects these have had not only in school but as a consequence in wider society.

    I don’t care who is in power and who isn’t. It’s not political. This just has to happen.

27. why cant children have brick phones only? give them an old nokia with only call/text and snake on it

28. Why are the tories acting like kids are allowed to use the phones during lessons

29. Parents buy the phones then show concern for their kids’ wellbeing? Ok

30. Please, please send your kid to school with a calculator, pens and pencils then

31. My school tried this last year – didn’t work, we all still took our phones. The school gave up after ten days.

32. [deleted]

33. Not enough to swing to Tory at all, but it’s a good start. Especially as any number of recent Prime Ministers could have campaigned on this pledge.

    But this is a simple, common-sensical rule to run on. Now give us about thirty more and we’ll talk. 

34. Will they change their minds if Musk tweets about how he needs to shovel out his lies to young people?

35. Try wrestling a smartphone out of some shitty teenager’s hands when they know they can kick, punch, and scratch at you, but you can’t retaliate or even really defend yourself.

36. I take issue with a ban for this reason alone.

    My child has a medical condition that at points in her life has had the potential to be fatal. She has attended three schools, one primary in Ireland one primary in England and is currently in secondary school in England. All three have failed to tell me when she’s had an injury that meant to should have gone to A&E, she is susceptible to internal bleeding so if she hits her head or stomach she needs medical assessment.

    Last year she missed a lot of school due to her illness. This became a huge issue with one teacher in particular. But in general a lot of pressure has been put on her attendance over the years. She is in GCSE year this year and I am trying my best to send her to school even when she is unwell. Sunday fortnight ago she spent the day crying in pain on the sofa. She went to school Monday but messaged me around 11am to say she’d gone to the office to say she was unwell and they sent her back to class. Another girl in her class was also in the office and told them she’d called her mother and was then told off for doing so, so my daughter was also scared of getting in trouble for contacting me given what she has seen with the other girl.

    I understand the issues around mobile phones in class etc but when you can’t trust a school to actually look after your child’s well-being the prospect of them not being able to contact me is terrifying.

    I did have words with the office when I went to school, not for the first time. I am so incredibly tired of having to fight for my daughters health to be taken seriously. All school actually cares about is their attendance statistics.

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