Swiped: the school that banned smartphones

What platform is the documentary on? Maybe we’ll make a family movie night out of it….

@Dea it’s on channel 4. Very eye opening, I recommend every parent watches it

My son is starting prep next year and for the first term we pick them up from their classroom so that’s all fine. The rest of the year they are allowed to go meet their parents in the courtyard and when he’s old enough to walk home (we live behind the school it’s literally a 5min walk, safe brand new estate w new houses and working parents, the school itself is 2yrs new) without being picked up from the classroom I’ll be getting him a kids smart watch- he can make calls and msgs to who I put on there, and I can track his location. It also tracks his heartbeat and sleep and steps so it’s like a Fitbit for kids with tracking. That’s all he’ll need until high school. I think that’s all most kids need, not a whole phone. Watch stays on their hand also it cannot get lost, phones can.

Could not agree more. The trickiest part is getting EVERYONE on board- and early, while the kids are young!

@Trish very tricky, I’m curious as to why some people would say no…

I don't see a need for a kid to have a phone until they are consistently out without a parent, and that is just for safety and does not need to be a smart phone. I plan to go the family phone route and avoid personal phones as long as possible. But I have concerns with a ban because it seems like when things are banned people just find more ways to do the thing.

I agree. However, I feel like to a degree it's futile. My oldest didn't have a smart phone until he turned 15 (he had a basic phone since he started walking home from school). But he has had access to a computer for a lot longer. And even with no smart phone I feel like he behaved similarly to his peers. We plan on homeschooling our younger two. Not just because of smart phones but I think it's an added benefit. And I'll be the first to admit I'm addicted to my phone. It's something I'm working on. But I don't want my kids to be like that.

I am a teacher in middle school and half of the drama comes from phones and social media. We put our phones away for the day and that has helped tremendously that they still bring home tech issues to school. My oldest child is nine and I’m looking at holding out until 13 or 14.

They don’t allow phones in classrooms in our district. My kids aren’t allowed to have cell phones until they have jobs to pay for them (16+)

We haven't decided on age but my daughter will have a smart phone. It will be a Bark smart phone so it's monitored for her safety until she can make safe decisions on the Internet for herself. There's too many weirdos out there to not allow her access to help wherever she may need it. Smartphones aren't inherently bad, it's how we've adapted to using them that's bad.