Smart Phones

I'm inclined to agree with you Cossy. I feel that phones, at least for secondary school children, can be very useful especially if they have a longish journey home and arrive at an empty house. In the event of a problem they can easily contact someone for help. Of course, they don't need smartphones for that.

However, most of them, like my GD, have smartphones. Are they proposing to take them away from them? That wouldn't go down well! Better controls and better parental supervision as well as better training for the youngsters seems a more sensible way to go.

They will be banned for under 16 s within 10 years is my prediction and we will look back on it in the sane way as we look back on smoking in a car with children.

I’m pretty sure it will just be for during lessons and school time. I would think it’s not before time either. How they work out how to do this I’m not sure but it will be a whole lot more respectful.

Who is proposing to ban them?

I agree they should be put away safely during the school day, but it’s important that children have a means of contacting a parent or guardian on the way to and from school.

In my opinion, they should be banned for everyone who walks into a cafe, restaurant and cinema. There is no need for children to have a smart phone, an ordinary, straightforward basic mobile phone is good enough for their security so they can contact family if in trouble, in fact I am thinking of buying one for myself as I am sick of carrying a massive screened smartphone that takes much of the room up in my handbag.

I would like to see them banned because they cause a lot of harm and children don’t need to be online to each other all the time, however it’s going to be very contentious and difficult to achieve.

While I agree it's a good idea in principle, I'm not sure how it is going to work on a practical level. How do you put that particular genie back in the bottle? It's not just secondary school pupils who use laptops and tablets for school work - my GS is in P2 and they upload their homework onto a secure school portal, for instance.

Perhaps banning smart phones under 16 and allowing dumb phones? Children could call parents or contact for help. Nobody needs a smart phone, some people prefer a smart phone for their own reasons.

The internet is available on computers.

If the parents in individual classes in schools all agreed not to buy their children smart phones while children are in primary school it would be a start. It’s only pressure on parents who know the rest of the class have these phones that makes them go along with it.
An interesting debate on woman’s hour the other day talked to parents who had agreed this between themselves.

I used to wish parents wouldn't buy their children their own tvs for their bedrooms, and cars and driving lessons at 17……I got fed up hearing all about ‘everyone has….’
Suppose it’s always been this way though looking back it was probably simpler then just to say no and have them hate you, which was my experience.

Oh dear. My son had a tv in his bedroom and we bought him a small car for his 17th birthday and paid for driving lessons. I wanted a car when I was 17 but that, and driving lessons, was way beyond my parents’ reach - not that I understood it then, any more than I understood that they couldn’t afford a horse ten years previously.

Ban this ban that, the Nanny state is alive and well then. Let the parents decide what they want to give their child, I paid for some of my Grandsons driving lessons at 17.
If a parents thinks a child's request for something is inappropriate, say no.

👏👏👏

We paid for driving lessons and cars for our daughters' 17th Birthdays - out of interest, how does that become a smart phone debate?

When I retired from teaching secondary in 2015, no-one (head, staff, kids, absolutely no-one) was able to use their mobile on site (well, I think you could get a signal at the bottom of the field).
I never did understand how that worked, as the tech was excellent for laptops and printing etc.
Obviously parents (and the school) want the pupils safe, to & from school, phones keep them safer. So banning them is not the answer.

Our GC in primary school (aged 7 & 9) need a smart device to access homework, spellings and class times table challenges.

They also use them to chat to friends after school on FaceTime.

It is not the smart devices which are a problem, it’s parents not downloading protection software and/or monitoring their children. The platforms used by under 16’s should be strictly monitored for unsuitable content/adverts by the platform/software providers.

I appreciate this gets more difficult when they reach senior school, but as so much of their course work, homework and everything else is now being carried out on a computer of some kind, how on earth can they be banned?

Do they need a smart phone though? In my experience (ok, I’m ancient) it is very difficult to work on a smartphone.

If that's the only option available, then it's what people have to use.
I can barely see the font on mine, and if I enlarge it enough to read, then it only fits a couple of words on the screen. 🤭

Germanshepherdsmum

Do they need a smart phone though? In my experience (ok, I’m ancient) it is very difficult to work on a smartphone.

This is my question as well.

Why not a dumb phone if they must contact their parents? And a home computer. My AC (and older GC with children) all have computers at home, as do I. All our GC and GGC use with special children security.

MissAdventure

If that's the only option available, then it's what people have to use.
I can barely see the font on mine, and if I enlarge it enough to read, then it only fits a couple of words on the screen. 🤭

Surely a computer is less expensive than a smart phone?

I wouldn't know.
No idea at all because I've no interest at all.

I dont see how this would be possible, there are many parents that let toddlers watch things on a phone so doubt they would stop a teen from using one.

I think social media companies should be stricter with age limits, requiring proper proof of age rather than just asking if a user is over 14.

I think parents would suffer just as much.
People now think they must be in contact constantly.

Why would it be the only option available MissA? My son gave me his old smartphone but I only use it for family WhatsApp messages. I have a dumb phone for taking out with me for calls if necessary (we have no reception here) in addition to my in-car phone. For internet use I have my iPad and laptop - and in an emergency only, the smartphone.