Iphone for grammar school - how common

[JaneEyre]

DS claims 'most of his friends have the latest iPhones'. I'm not sure whether this is not a bit of exaggeration on his part (especially the fact that they are all latest models)

Oh, I have already been had by this kind of assertion when my DS was in year 5 or 6 and he claimed that eveyone in his class had a nitendo DS! Once he had been offered a Nitendo, I realised that this was not true, even though I am sure that the vast majority of his class had one!

The only problem I have seen on the phones apart from normal rules on internet safety is the use of whatsapp.I am simply amazed by the number of messages some children send and the times they are sent well into the early hours.

This is the reason why it is quite a good idea to leave the phone in another room while the child does the HW... Otherwise, there is a 'tiiiiiing' noice every few mn ( for things really not important!)!! The child can check his phone at his breaks...

[loobylou]

My dc both have smart phones but not iphones. I think smart phones are genuinely useful (and school has a relaxed policy so they have them with them all the time) but I personally would not want to spend good money on them. Mine both have a Motorola (G? maybe) and they have a contract which has proved very reasonable. Especially if travelling on public transport etc, then there are so many opportunities for phones to be lost. (However dd does claim that "most" of her friends have fantastic iPhones. I don't know if it's true but neither am I that concerned about it )

[pickle123]

Agree on Motorolas - both of ours have them. The range in Y7 at CHG seem to be anything from old style text/call only mobiles, to Iphones. I know of a couple of girls who arent allowed to take their phones to school. Mine does and has found it useful for a myriad of things in terms of school work e.g. taking photos of experiments etc

Agree also about whatsapp - I have monitored this very closely, and DD has halted her own use as things were getting out of hand in a group whatsapp setting

[BucksBornNBred]

My youngest dds school also has a zero tolerance policy on phone use in school.Children can take them but have to leave them in lockers for use before and after school.If found using them in school time they are consfiscated.You as the parent also have to write a letter to the headmistress at the school requesting permission for your child to bring a phone to the school and agreeing to the schools policy on the use of mobile phones at school

Any idea on how to word that letter? I have tried asking the question and been told that only in "exceptional" circumstances will permission be granted. A PM would be great just in case the school lurks on this forum!

[pinkhousemom]

My daughter has a flip-phone that can only be used for texting and making calls. In the last couple of weeks she's managed to lose it. I had considered giving her my old phone when I upgrade this month, but that idea has completely gone out of the window now. This week I discovered she'd been using her tablet all hours of the day/night when she was supposed to be working/sleeping/getting ready for school. She'd registered herself on a pile of Harry Potter forums without telling me. The tablet has now been confiscated. The only internet she can use now is at school, so she'll be staying late at school to do computer-based homework. So very annoyed about it. On the plus side, I now have leverage to get her to tidy her room. She's got a month to prove she's sensible enough to have her tablet back. Even then, I'll be having it back when she goes to bed.

[Peridot]

I would check the school's policy on phones in general first. Schools do vary enormously on this. Mine have had iPhones for the last couple of years but they are older models, either free hand-me-downs from relatives on contracts, or bought second hand.

[thirdtimemum]

My ds also has an iPhone. He had had one for a while after I broke his iPod and it worked out cheaper for him to have my old iPhone instead. However he has only just started having credit in it so that he can use it now that he had started walking home alone. So far £5 has lasted 3 months and I expect it to last until sept. I may then look at a cheap contract. I'm due an upgrade and when I do he'll have my old phone. Not sure what the policy will be at his new school but I will insist that he takes it to school for the journey there and back.

[Tinkers]

DD started with an old basic Nokia of mine, but hated texting me on it as it took forever. We got her a Samsung Galaxy young smart phone, which was an improvement, but she didn't use the functionality of it as she knows how to use an iPhone/iPad and didn't really adjust, so only used as a phone for texting, but at least the texting was quicker for her.

DH offered her his old iPhone 4 when he got a new iPhone, so she has that and prefers it. She knows wouldn't get her a brand new one and all she will ever get is a cast off, but she is happy with that. Stuff transfers from iPad to iPhone and back again, so she does use more features. She never seen takes either to her room at night, I doubt the phone leaves her bag most days. All three of her close friends have iPhones, (one of them has my old iPhone 4 from when I upgraded), so they use iMessage to keep in touch rather than social media.

Like others she is in giffgaff and that works for us. We are too, so even if she ran out of minutes AND credit she could still ring/text us. She never uses many minutes though.
School allow phones on a 'they must not be seen or heard' basis, although they are allowed to get them out of a teacher says it is OK. Last week they were looking at onion cells through a microscope and the teacher allowed them to use their phones to take pictures through the microscope. They came out surprisingly well. The rest of the time they must be out of sight and switched off.

[Daogroupie]

The more technology you give them the more time they will waste. I see them in the library when their parents think they are working.

Their textbooks are laid out in front of them and notebooks are at the ready but there are a lot of them where the pen lies idle and the eyes are glued to the phone screen.

I sat next to a y11 boy from one of our local top indies yesterday who did not pick up his pen once in two hours. He reminded me of Boo Radley as he gazed starry eyed at his phone with a smile playing round his lips. It was a guilty pleasure though as he kept giving me sidelong glances as I was slogging away.

I would not trust any teenager to be working in their room if they have a phone or an ipad in there.

The amount of inane messages sent during study time will be astonishing.

There will be parents who will only find out about just how much time was spent on social media when the brown envelope is opened in August.

If you give them the means to waste time they will waste time. DG

[pinkhousemom]

The more technology you give them the more time they will waste. I see them in the library when their parents think they are working.

Their textbooks are laid out in front of them and notebooks are at the ready but there are a lot of them where the pen lies idle and the eyes are glued to the phone screen.

I sat next to a y11 boy from one of our local top indies yesterday who did not pick up his pen once in two hours. He reminded me of Boo Radley as he gazed starry eyed at his phone with a smile playing round his lips. It was a guilty pleasure though as he kept giving me sidelong glances as I was slogging away.

I would not trust any teenager to be working in their room if they have a phone or an ipad in there.

The amount of inane messages sent during study time will be astonishing.

There will be parents who will only find out about just how much time was spent on social media when the brown envelope is opened in August.

If you give them the means to waste time they will waste time. DG

I've learnt my lesson! I shall be running a tight ship (Internet-wise) from now on!