How to block 3g phones access to the internet ?

[niko007]

Hope this is on the right forum

 

Does any school manage to block 3g access to the internet whilst students are in the building ?

 

We have had a surge of the £99 quid blackberries appear with students, which are now starting to cause lots of problems from disruption in classes to unfiltered access to the internt /facebook ?

 

What rights does the school have with regards confiscation of phones etc ?

 

thanks in advance

[RabbieBurns]

i bought a mobile phone jammer and a wifi jammer off ebay from china for part of my research project at uni a couple of years ago..

 

they work really well, and I had some fun pranking people outside of the lab..

Highly illegal to use and not recommended here though..

 

You need to educate / make and enforce policies, and I believe you have the right to confiscate if in breach of said policies.

[LosOjos]

Here we immediately confiscate any phone that is seen being used in any lesson, it is put in an envelope with the student's name on it in the safe in the school office where they can collect it at the end of the day.

 

As for blocking the internet access on them, I think there are mobile signal jammers out there, but the cost would be ridiculous and it'd be indiscriminate i.e. it'd block staff phones too, and not just internet, but any signal

[RabbieBurns]

Here we immediately confiscate any phone that is seen being used in any lesson, it is put in an envelope with the student's name on it in the safe in the school office where they can collect it at the end of the day.

 

As for blocking the internet access on them, I think there are mobile signal jammers out there, but the cost would be ridiculous and it'd be indiscriminate i.e. it'd block staff phones too, and not just internet, but any signal

 

The jammers are cheap. But they are illegal to use. In the UK at least.

[krisd32]

Faraday cage? probably be quite expensive though.

[powdarrmonkey]

Actively jamming radio signals is a criminal offence.

[elsiegee40]

As others have said jamming is against the law in the UK. Every school needs a clear and enforced policy for electrical equipment in school.

 

We're a primary school and mobiles, music players, music players, cameras, etc are banned.

 

In accordance with our policy: If a pupil is caught with such an item, it is taken to the office where it is put in a sealed envelope with the pupil's name on it and kept there until it is collected by a parent.

 

Part of the reason for this is that even we have had problems with pupils photographing others and uploading them to the web to cause offence.

 

The policy is much the same at both my teenage children's schools... except that they have to collect the offending item from the school office, not me!

 

Staff should never retain the phone or keep it in their desk drawer. This leaves them open to allegations and, should the equipment go missing or get damaged, a rather large problem. Let the office lock it away so that it can't be stolen or damaged!

 

If your school needs a reason to create such a policy, make it Safeguarding!