Friday 8 July 2011

Mobile phones in secondary schools

Yesterday I went to a new intake meeting for my daughter's soon to be secondary school.

During the presentation, the Head of Year said that the school had made a decision to ban the use of mobile phones during school hours from September.  This would be actioned by automatic confiscation of any phone seen out of a school bag / pocket once inside the school gates.

The reasons given included that students were increasingly using phones to video school activities and then post them on social networking sites, which I agree is inappropriate. Another reason is that students text each other from one end of the dinner queue to the other, which the head felt was completely pointless.  I can see his point, but I am learning that just because I wouldn't do it, doesn't mean I should expect my children not to.  They live in a different technological bubble to us oldies (well, almost oldies!).

The final reason, which gave me the greatest cause for concern, is that the school have had instances where students have been 'bullied' via social networking sites or through a series of text messages, and that the school are then having to deal with the repercussions of this in school hours.  This is where our views clearly differ:

A school wouldn't dream of trying to brush playground bullying under the carpet.  Most schools in the UK have very clear and firm policies for dealing with bullying, and certainly in both the schools my children have attended, bullying is not tolerated in any circumstances.  Yet banning mobile phones seems very much to me as though the school are trying to turn a blind eye to an increasingly common problem.  By telling the kids to put their phones away, we are not helping them to deal with difficult and inappropriate activities, we are instead giving them the message that we are not interested.

I really believe that we need to equip our children to deal with all aspects of social networking and technology - whether good or bad.  I have taught my children not to reveal their identities online just as I have told them never to get in a car with a stranger.  I've also explained to them that 'cyber bullying' is just as unacceptable, and I have supported them on the odd occasion when they have felt undermined by an unkind text or post from a 'friend'.  I want the school to be teaching them safe networking habits, praising good use of technology and explaining the consequences of bad.  Those 'anti-social networks' that the Head talked about are a fully integrated part of our children's lives, and we, as parents and teachers, have a responsibility to help our children learn how to manage them. To imagine that we can prevent them from using such tools by simply confiscating their phones would be madness.

9 comments:

  1. Yes, it's a real challenge to find a balance here. Have you read this?
    http://mindshift.kqed.org/2010/11/10-reasons-to-ban-pens-and-pencils-in-the-classroom/

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  2. Thanks Catherine, that's a great link!

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  3. Have you considered though that cyber bullying is very hard for schools to access and therefore manage. School yard is hard enough to spot but secretive texts and social networks are almost impossible. No access to these from 9-4 at least reduces the hours it can take place.

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  4. Using mobile phones in school is something I have been advocating for a few years now. I teach MFL and have successfully used mobiles with my students. My current school has a total mobile ban although more of my students turn up to class with a phone than a pen. When I allowed my students to use their phones they had to have them in plain sight on their desk at all other times in the lesson. There has to be a certain amount of trust and responsibility in this situation. Banning things doesn't stop them being used.

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  5. Thanks Bryan - I agree that cyber bullying is particularly hard to access, but I suppose bullying on the school bus or in the alleys on the way home are equally difficult to identify, though perhaps easier to escape from at home.

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  6. Dom - I really agree with your final point that banning things doesn't stop them being used. I think what I am hoping is that schools begin to address these issues, rather than avoiding them. Sounds great that you are using mobiles in your lessons.

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  7. In fairness other things banned from school: swearing, inappropriate dress, knives, leaving the lesson for a chat with your friend, alcohol, personal music, (often) earrings, eating and drinking soft drinks in class, and a few more. All of which are often perfectly acceptable in a professional setting (context specific). The context is a safe and undisturbed learning environment. There are many professional settings when personal texts are not acceptable - it is as well children learn that school is one of these. Using them in a restricted and controlled way for education is a completely different matter.

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  8. Thanks Bryan. Your comments have made me think more about why I disagree with a blanket ban, and I think you've hit the nail on the head. Children need to learn (and I know a few adults too!) when it is ok to use their phone and when it isn't. I think just telling them that they mustn't be seen with a phone in their hand whilst on school premises is too extreme.

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  9. Grrrrr - this sort of thing just winds me up. Indeed, mobiles are also banned from my daughter's school.

    Sounds like the school are pushing the issues outside of the school gate rather than facing up to it. They should be educating and supporting pupils in how to cope and deal and to use the technology responsibly. By banning phones for such a reason, the school are actually failing their pupils. They are failing to help support them with life skills that they need to cope in the environment THEY live in not in the environment that the teachers LIVED in.

    If they had any bit of sense, they would realise that mobile tech can help their pupils. When my daughter is out of school she is glued to her blackberry. After school she group chats on blackberry messenger about the homework they have to do. As a group of friends they have worked out for themselves that they can use technology to help each other with work. Not so evil now eh?

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