Mobile Phones Banned from Schools - Good Idea?

They should manufacture a phone that can only be used to contact parents , ie one to one and have no other use

Hold on , isn't that a walkie talkie

No they shouldn't be banned as most walk home by themselves but they should be rules about using them in school

No they shouldn't ban them, my older girl walks home from school, I wouldn't feel comfortable if she didn't have a phone on her

Definitely in favour.Emergency calls can be dealt with via the head's office as indeed they always used to be before the arrival of mobiles.They can hand them in at start of day and collect them before home.They are a distraction from study as well.Keep kids off of media until home time unless relevant IT learning of course.Encourage book learning and social engagement skills aka sport,cooking,music groups and such like.

Of course in principle it’s a great idea but how the hell does it get policed. It causes more problems than it solves

Banned? No, but they need to be restricted from using while they're studying.

This little girl below was kidnapped in Texas four days ago and if she had a tracking tag attached to her, her mother would be able to know where she is.

It's sad that things such as tracking and tracking tags are needed for parents to know where their kids are.

I lost my wallet yesterday for an hour and got desperate and panicked because I have everything in it, so a parent losing their child is a 1000 times worse.

By the way, Google is making their own tags so it'll work with all Android devices and possibly better than the Samsung/Tile ones (the Tile tags are apparently not that good).

The children should be able to use them while enroute to and from home but should be handed in once they are in school.

Most schools already ban their use in the classroom (quite rightly). The government action is pretty meaningless.

Good luck to them in enforcing this (as if teachers don't have enough to do!). I think it's better to restrict use - they should have access in case of an emergency.

Smartphones can be distracting but I do think basic non smart phones should be allowed to be carried by children at all times. I've seen kids with high end iphones, I'm amazed at how much parents will spend on their kids. Even when parents hand down their old iphones to their kids some of them have a very high resale value, its quite a lot of money lost. I just think kids should be limited to basic simple non smart phones.

When I was a kid we all had the same uniforms and of course there were no smart phones or high end trainers, the only way kids could one up the other in branded goods was who had the nicest bike in the bike rack which certainly wasn't me as I always walked.

Definitely should not be banned. Many have to walk or meet parents after clubs etc. They need to find another way so that they can still use them after school.

I taught physics for 17 years - it is impossible to ban phones. I taught in one school with ~1800 students. Can you IMAGINE how long it would take to collect then give back the phones for that school? Even if each teacher had to do this for each lesson it would cause mayhem, and there would be phones dropped and damaged. It would achieve no reduction in bullying anyway. It' a policy for the sake of saying something, that hasn't been thought through and doesn't tackle the problems that exit anyway.

Absolutely should be banned! They are a distraction and affect education. Yes kids walk home from school, but kids have been walking home from school for years long before smartphones.

Yes. There's really no need to have access to a phone whilst on school premises.

I went to secondary school and phones were banned. Had to be kept in your bag and turned off at all times throughout the school day. Would get confiscated and a detention if caught with it, parents would have to come in and collect it at the end of the week. You can use it before and after school but I thought it was really beneficial looking back on it. I work in an office now and not allowed on your phone unless it’s related to work or on your break, which is more frustrating being an adult and responsibilities but if you need to contact your child at school contact the reception

I think it's a great idea banning mobile phones in schools. The pupils may sit up and take notice of what they are being taught in school. I think they should do home economics as well to learn how to make meals from scratch. I think adults and children have lost the art of communicating with each other and using their mobile phones instead.

My sons school has just brought a phone ban in, they are using a system called Yondr so the pupils can still have their phones before & after school but throughout the school day the phone is secured in a pouch which is locked at the start of the school day then they tap to unlock at the end of the day. If any contact is needed from child to parent or vice versa you use the school office line.

I think adults should be banned from tech sometimes, too. My partner drives me nuts with his phone. He gets in from work with a cheery hello. I get a kiss if I'm lucky, and then he sits with his phone waiting for dinner. I previously had to tell him to leave his phone while we eat or he can start cooking his own dinner. I swear he was so engrossed he would have eaten anything and not known what it was. Sunday tech is banned until early evening. He has a personal phone, work phone, tablet, laptop and I stupidly bought him a PS5 for his birthday. I'm at the bottom of that list, just a housekeeper and chef I think.

Most schools already have a ban on phones in class, our school does. They get one warning if it's out in class and then it gets taken away. Unless they are specifically told to use their phones in class they aren't allowed.

It's tricky secondary schools where I am are great at cancelling after school clubs last minute and no notice to parents. This means that if you've arranged to collect your kid from school your kid has to hang around for an hour or go home and you find out when you get to the School. One of mine had her club cancelled Monday. Thankfully she had forgotten to put her phone away so ducked into the loos and sent a message so we knew to change our working day. OK I found out when j finished work but it didn't matter. Just meant I didn't have to rush home.

Seems like further nanny state governing. Stop usage on site if they wish (hand phone in at registration) but given back after last lesson.

Only problem I can see here is are the school staff/teachers prepared to step up to what they might now consider extra duties. For example phoning parents more often when there is a problem or resolving bullying problems of all types.

I think it's a good idea. They cause distractions and they also via social media etc influence children too much. Leads to bullying, sometimes low self esteem, and in the worst cases even suicide.

No I don't think they should be banned, it's part of modern day life the Mobile phone everyone has one now. However they should be turned off in class .

Actually in some respects they are useful for the kids, who can use phones as a planner or diary . a reminder to do things, or to look up something they are unsure about , there is also the social and the safety aspect, and as someone who used to drive school transport, they are a godsend, as where pupils used to misbehave before, they now sit quietly listening to music, playing games or texting with friends.