Should phones be allowed in school?

  As one of the kids at school whose parents weren't loaded I would say no on the basis that the poorer kids whose parents can't afford to buy them a phone (or the right kind of phone) will have another reason to feel rubbish about themselves. In my day (listen to me eh! I'm only bloomin' thirty!) it was clothing that separated the poor from the not so poor - Fred Perry jackets, Buffalos, Baby-G watches... If you weren't wearing the right gear then you were a skank. Mobile phones weren't really an issue as no one had them, I got my first when I was in sixth form and it was a total brick.








 Today's kids have to put up with the clothing thing plus are under pressure to have all the latest gadgets- mobile phones (probably got to be the iphone), tablets (probably must be the ipad), MP3 players (probably got to be the i.....hold on I'm sensing a theme here, just as I suspected Apple is the Devil and responsible for all the world's wrongs). You can bet your bottom dollar the spoilt kids with ieverything make the poor ones feel awful.

  Then there's the fact that mobile phones in school facilitate bullying and abuse. I couldn't imagine all the stress of school, the pressure to fit in, the pressure to look good, the constant battle of trying to keep up with the trends despite not having much money, the old fashioned face to face kind of bullying plus cyber bullying, being humiliated and shamed publicly on facebook, being videoed being bullied, being sent threatening and abusive messages, worrying that you don't have enough people on your 'friend list.' It doesn't bear thinking about and it frightens me that my baby boy will be having to go to school at a time when things will likely be immeasurably worse- because let's face it, things aren't going to get better until the authority (ha!) figures actually get some authority back and man up.

  And really what are they learning when they're sat in class on their phones and the teacher has no power to confiscate the phone and gets abused if they try? I heard a teacher on The Wright Stuff this morning talking about how he got attacked after daring to try and take the phone off a pupil that was videoing him in class!

  Many people are saying that kids need their mobiles on them for safety reasons but if you're using it as some kind of 'panic button' incase something should happen in school then really you should be questioning what is up with that school shouldn't you?! And as for on the way to and from school then surely a mobile phone isn't going to be real help in a situation and the route/method of travel to and from school should be checked out to be safe in the first place. If anything a child carrying a mobile on the way to school is more at risk of mugging for the phone?

  Anyway that's just my opinion, but I know if my son's route to school warrants a mobile phone for his own safety then I'll be looking for an alternative way to get there!