One of England's largest school academies to go phone-free

[6Foot2]

Link: One of England's largest school academies to go phone-free - BBC News

 

One of England's largest school academy trusts is set to ban phones during the school day.

 

Ormiston Academies Trust confirmed to the BBC it was phasing out access to smartphones for around 35,000 pupils at its 42 state schools across the country.

 

Tom Rees, Ormiston's chief executive, told the Guardian, external that smartphones had disrupted students' learning and wellbeing, adding that there was a "clear correlation" between phone use and concerns about mental health.

 

Earlier this year, the Department for Education under the previous Conservative government updated its advice on mobile phones to give school leaders in England the power to ban their use during the school day.

 

The new measures will be put in place across all of Ormiston's schools - which include six primaries and 32 secondaries, spanning as far north as Cheshire and as far south as the Isle of Wight.

 

Eight of its secondary schools have already adopted the policy for the autumn term after consultation with parents, while access to phones is also already prohibited at the trust's primary, special needs and alternative provision schools.

 

A spokesperson for the trust told the BBC the ban was following the "direction of travel" in England and it was about "taking the kids and parents with you".

 

Tom Bennett, behaviour advisor for the Department for Education, told BBC Breakfast the "smartest thing" a school could do was ban smartphones, which he described as "attention hoovers".

 

He said there was not a lot of enforcement at some institutions which had already implemented similar policies, adding that a blanket ban would remove peer pressure and allow students to get used to it.

 

In February, the Department for Education issued guidance to crack down on mobile phone use in schools to "minimise disruption and improve behaviour in classrooms".

 

Mr Bennett told the BBC the government could go further, making it a statutory requirement for schools to ban phones apart from in exceptional circumstances allowed by the head teacher.

 

A committee of MPs in May said the government should consider proposals to ban smartphones for under-16s, outlining "serious dangers" posed to children online.

 

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he is not in favour of "simply banning" phones for under-16s but there is a "serious question" to be asked about what children can access.

 

Meanwhile, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has told the BBC he is looking very closely at the impact of an upcoming Australian ban on social media for all under-16s.

 

The Australian government has promised to introduce legislation this year to enforce a minimum age for children to access social media.

[robk]

Anyone know if they do 1 to 1 device schemes in that trust?

[sigma]

Anyone know if they do 1 to 1 device schemes in that trust?

 

I get your question, but it’s not entirely the same thing as I presume any school 1 to 1 devices will be locked into school filtering?

[gaz350b]

We implemented a complete phone ban in may and as a school we’ve had to do a lot of work with students on social skills. Weirdly it feels longer than may, maybe we had a partial ban in classrooms first.

 

Computer use has gone through the roof and there have been a heavy load on resource bookings for things like cameras.

 

Another local school found it so hard that they let students use their phones at break time to pacify the kids.

[jthompson]

I feel like I'd want to hear a commitment from leadership about MFA for students prior to them bringing in a complete ban on mobiles.

[gaz350b]

I feel like I'd want to hear a commitment from leadership about MFA for students prior to them bringing in a complete ban on mobiles.

 

Just make it so they don’t need 2fa in school.

[hardtailstar]

A school in my town has done this with phones, They use bags that lock.

 

I dont think they use 2FA.

[DrCheese]

We did this a few years ago, surprised it's something people aren't already doing anyway.

 

Like many, I questioned why after we'd just spent 2 years trying to get students to access digital learning in any way possible (Some of our students *only* had access to mobiles at home) & I found it odd considering in the working world we rely on our mobile phones to do our jobs

 

But in reality, it's been brilliant. We have MFA in full for students, just not in school so they can function fine without.

[synaesthesia]

We did this a few years ago, surprised it's something people aren't already doing anyway.

 

Like many, I questioned why after we'd just spent 2 years trying to get students to access digital learning in any way possible (Some of our students *only* had access to mobiles at home) & I found it odd considering in the working world we rely on our mobile phones to do our jobs

 

But in reality, it's been brilliant. We have MFA in full for students, just not in school so they can function fine without.

 

I'm interested in seeing how this pans out. Whilst I've seen mobile phones being put to good use in some lessons in the right context, with what we have available to students now I think it's a rare case now and would love to see a complete ban. It'll of course play nicely into the hands of the people making those pouches though.

And for MFA - either don't do it (risk assessment is adequately low) or have a boundary set. Yeah that might require paying out for Azure P1 but it's still far less cost and resource than tokens or other methods.

[Devontechie]

My daughter has just started secondary school. Her school gives each student with a Yondr pouch for their phone. They can open it when they leave the school side at the end of the day.

 

It sounds like they have been doing this for a few years now.

[jthompson]

Google don't provide a "don't ask for MFA in school" option.

 

Also, Microsoft charge for that.

 

I feel like those two companies need to be lobbied on that front!

[free780]

Shouldn’t part of being at school be modelling students for the real world of work?

 

Some workplaces ban phones. EG Call centres .

 

But the majority probably permit them. Self Control is required in the work place why not in education?

 

Isn’t it more rational to model self control of technology rather than a blanket ban?

 

MFA should be in place. There are also other benefits of having P1/P2 such as identity protection.

 

Account Compromise can happen on site.

Edited September 15, 2024 by free780

[Davit2005]

Shouldn’t part of being at school be modelling students for the real world of work?

 

Some workplaces ban phones. EG Call centres .

 

But the majority probably permit them. Self Control is required in the work place why not in education?

 

Isn’t it more rational to model self control of technology rather than a blanket ban?

 

MFA should be in place. There are also other benefits of having P1/P2 such as identity protection.

 

Account Compromise can happen on site.

 

Agree

 

So we are going to ban students using phones during school only to have them walk out the front gates and down the road glued to their mobiles??

 

It is bad enough with grown ups still using their phones and driving, walking down pavements, riding bikes, completely glued to their phones and complete ignorance to anything else around them.

 

Case in point on Saturday, driver on road should not of been (royal park), driving too fast but slowed looks like was going to give way to people crossing road but kept going deeply immersed in the mobile screen.

 

We need education and self control more than out right prohibition sometimes.

[msi_school]

Shouldn’t part of being at school be modelling students for the real world of work?

 

Some workplaces ban phones. EG Call centres .

 

But the majority probably permit them. Self Control is required in the work place why not in education?

 

Isn’t it more rational to model self control of technology rather than a blanket ban?

 

MFA should be in place. There are also other benefits of having P1/P2 such as identity protection.

 

Account Compromise can happen on site.

 

Schools have been trying to model self control with mobiles for 20+ years maybe we should trust the staff with the experience in the field to try a new approach, I know I appreciate it when they let me do so in my field.

[pete]

^ Why consider things seriously and do proper research when you can spin a moral panic to meet your political or promotional agenda?

 

Still, at least they're not playing heavy metal backwards or engaging in D&D.

[Andrew_C]

I can't but see a problem here...

 

[jthompson]

But the majority probably permit them. Self Control is required in the work place why not in education?

 

I think the differences are significant. Pupils are not responsible for keeping themselves in a paid position, so the motivation to not prat about on a mobile is markedly different. I should imagine lots of school children use up most of their self control just turning up and sitting in class, and therefore don't have much left to resist the pull of mobile notificaitons.

 

My personal view is that the social media industry is the new tobacco industry. Their products are precision engineered and highly refined for holding attention, after all. Whether or not an outright ban is the most productive way forward, I consider myself unqualified to decide, but I do understand it.

[Ditto]

^ Why consider things seriously and do proper research when you can spin a moral panic to meet your political or promotional agenda?

 

Still, at least they're not playing heavy metal backwards or engaging in D&D.

 

There maybe more research out there that has been considered than you might imagine. There's more to this topic than the sensible use of phones in the school environment - there's a major part to do with emotional wellbeing and mental health too. The CEO at our charity recently completed a sabbatical where he studied the reasons we are seeing ever increasing numbers of children and young people requesting mental health support.

 

Social media (so not purely mobile phones) does come up a lot as a topic of concern. I will see if I can find time to pull together some summary points, including research and data facts to add to this conversation.

 

In the meantime, if anyone really wants to get in to a deeper understanding, our CEO would highly recommend reading the book titled "The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness" authored by Jonathan Haidt.

 

It clearly goes a lot further than just the topic raised by the OP, but there are overlaps and perhaps gives insights in to why the education sector is reviewing current practices. I don't agree with everything in the book, but it is insightful. Can be got via the jungle people at https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Jonathan+Haidt&i=audible&ref=dp_byline_sr_audible_1

 

On a personal note, my son's (year 11) school has gone for "out of sight" all day, whereas last term it was true only during classroom time. Elder son in Y13 has full access and use. With the younger son, it is a nuisance for coordinating lifts/bus home. There is only 1 bus at school closure, and on the occasions when I can't make pick up, or he signs up late for an after school event, it's much harder to deal with that. We're lucky as he has a laptop for school work as a special provision - and of course WhatsApp PC app works just fine! But not so cool for everyone else. The fact that that year group has gone from OK, to not OK, obviously causes grumbles, and it appears enforcement isn't really happening yet. I believe mobile phone usage in schools is going to take a lot of journalist inches over the next few years.

[Ditto]

My personal view is that the social media industry is the new tobacco industry. Their products are precision engineered and highly refined for holding attention, after all.

That is a fantastic analogy and so spot on. And the social media companies and spending vast amounts of money on developing addictive products via algorithms that probably exceed what the tobacco industry spent on advertising.

[jthompson]

That is a fantastic analogy and so spot on. And the social media companies and spending vast amounts of money on developing addictive products via algorithms that probably exceed what the tobacco industry spent on advertising.

 

I wish I could cite a few things in support of it, but it's my understanding that social media firms have been taking inspiration from the gambling industry, hiring talent from casino tech outfits that wrote the book on how to get and hold user engagement on slot machines, etc.

 

On the tobacco industry comparison, I'm in no doubt that the best research into the ill-effects of their products will have been carried out by the tech firms themselves, and buried. They'll know better than anyone what the impacts of their products can be, just as big tobacco knew better than most that cigarettes were both addictive and harmful long before they were made to admit it publicly.

 

As to whether the big tech bosses do actually prohibit their own children from using phones and tablets, I can't say. It may just be a myth, but the fact that it's such a widely held belief speaks to the generally ickiness/suspicion attached to this stuff.

[Rob_D]

Some years back, we cracked down on mobile use during the school day because the new year 7s weren't socialising with each other and forming friendship groups.

We tried some half-measures like "not inside the school building", but the students just took the mick, so we went for "turned off/on silent and in your bag or it gets confiscated". Parents broadly supported it and we've not had any issues.

Edited September 16, 2024 by 6Foot2

[mikes]

Part of our school's problem with the phones seemed to me to be; there would be trouble between children on social media during the school day, and the parents wouldn't take responsibility for their children's actions - instead they would say - "this message was posted during school hours why didn't you magically know about it" kind of thing. Easier just to ban the phones than deal with this. Australia are talking about banning social media for children entirely (of course the kids will just set up their own chat software)

[pete]

There maybe more research out there that has been considered than you might imagine. There's more to this topic than the sensible use of phones in the school environment - there's a major part to do with emotional wellbeing and mental health too. The CEO at our charity recently completed a sabbatical where he studied the reasons we are seeing ever increasing numbers of children and young people requesting mental health support.

 

Social media (so not purely mobile phones) does come up a lot as a topic of concern. I will see if I can find time to pull together some summary points, including research and data facts to add to this conversation.

 

There is a lot of research, but the conclusions are at best inconclusive, or don't ask the people under discussion (students) and instead rely on opinions from parents and teacher or (at worst) are pushing a particular agenda rather than trying to answer the question.

 

I am aware of Jonathan Haidt's work and he (in particular) has received quite a lot of criticism from his peers. That's before we raise our eyebrows at his assertion (in said book) that students should be more religious and his support of policies that seek to remove LGBTQ content from the Internet:

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/05/candice-odgers-teens-smartphones/678433/

 

(or Nature link if you have a subscription: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00902-2 - I couldn't find a free version)

[MrEprise]

My daughter has just started secondary school. Her school gives each student with a Yondr pouch for their phone. They can open it when they leave the school side at the end of the day.

 

It sounds like they have been doing this for a few years now.

 

I'm curious as to which other Schools in Devon are giving out the Yondr pouches as ours are doing the same but we only introduced this earlier this year.

[David44]

My daughter has just started secondary school. Her school gives each student with a Yondr pouch for their phone. They can open it when they leave the school side at the end of the day.

 

Interesting, I'd never heard of this type of product. It's an interesting idea. Like so many companies/products, their website (https://www.overyondr.com/) is very thin on information, I expect they would rather you contact them to ask questions so they have a lead and a contact to send marketing material to rather then tell you everything on their website.

 

I appreciate you are seeing the product as a parent rather than a school admin but I'd be interested to know how robust the pouches are. Could an enterprising student break the lock in such a way that they appear to be following the rules by keeping the phone in the pouch but still have easy access to it when out of sight but not off the site?

 

I wonder how the school deals with students who put their phone in the pouch but forget to turn it off. Easy enough to deal with a one-off genuine mistake without the pouch, if the phone rings in a lesson, the teacher could simply ask the student to turn their phone off. If it rings while in the pouch, not much anyone can do about it quickly. Unless... are the pouches Faraday cages?

 

Have any secondary schools had experience with these types of devices?