The very notion of “allowing students to keep [mobile phones] on condition they are not used or heard” might work in an ideal world (Ministers confirm plan to ban use of mobile phones in schools in England, 19 February). Unfortunately, my experience has been that some students (and parents) are not obedient, and a significant few are compulsive and frequent users. These students, often those in least need of distractions, find it almost impossible to keep to voluntary conditions, and employ an amusingly wide variety of subtle and secretive techniques to use phones in lessons, thus creating unnecessary further distractions for the class generally.
Such students can have prestidigitation skills that would have astounded Paul Daniels, the ability to lie convincingly, an innocent tone of voice and facial expression, and body language designed to discourage discovery, so it would be a very brave teacher who would attempt to find a phone that was being used, let alone confiscate it. The very notion of searching through a student’s possessions or person makes one despair at the experiences of those who suggest these policies. When a phone is discovered, students’ excuses come thick and fast: “an emergency at home”, interview for a part-time job, medical appointment, ill relative etc – all of which used to be filtered through the school office.
Many years ago, some colleagues and I would, at the start of a lesson, demand the surrender of all phones into a safe “phone box” for the duration. These techniques worked for a while until “educational” apps were developed to actually encourage students to use phones in class. Distracting novelties of dubious value were promoted as the way forward in modern teaching, and of course were very popular with students as a gateway to needing their phones on hand.
Many teachers will be saddened that their predictions of the dire results of allowing students’ phones in schools in the first place have come true.
Pete Clarkson
Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• When mobile phones first started to appear (years ago) at our Lincolnshire secondary school, we did not need non-statutory guidance to work out a straightforward solution. We contacted all parents to explain that mobile phones would be allowed on site if students were required to contact them. They could be brought to the school office, where they would be securely held and available to the student concerned. Any other mobile phones found would be confiscated, secured and returned at the end of the school day. This meant that we could all get on with teaching and learning – our core purpose. I’m certain that most schools have worked out similar arrangements. Perhaps the Department for Education could also issue non-statutory guidance on how to suck eggs?
Martyn Taylor
London
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