Should children be allowed to use their mobile phones in school?

IT SEEMS incredible that only now is former Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw saying mobile phones should be banned in schools. How were they ever allowed in the first place? School is for learning and any distraction should be avoided. It’s worrying enough to see pupils gazing at their phones in the street and on public transport without allowing them in the classroom. Culture Secretary Matt Hancock says he admires headteachers who won’t allow pupils to use phones in school, so why in the name of common sense doesn’t he make it law? NORMAN WANSTALL, Burford, Worcs. I WORKED in a comprehensive school for 24 years in administration and saw at first hand the rot setting in. At first, school rules prohibited the phones. However, within a short time they were being smuggled in and used openly in the classroom. Challenging this caused too much disruption and wasted

valuable teaching time. It seemed the rules were being set by the pupils as it made for an easier life for teachers. Do any of the modern breed of teachers know the meaning of the word discipline? No one knows how to say ‘no’ in case it offends the snowflake generation.

name supplied, Bridgend. I HAVE a 15-year-old who complains they are not allowed to play football at school during break time. My nine-year-old (who doesn’t have a phone, by the way)

and his friends used to take a tennis racquet in to school every day but were stopped from doing that this year. Swap phones for footballs, marbles, conkers and skipping ropes. The children would love it.

k.n., poole, Dorset. WHY on earth do pupils need a mobile phone in the classroom? If they were to be confiscated at the start of the school day, I expect some parents would be up in arms, saying they need to be able to contact their children 24/7. Why? I am in my 80s and during the war I lived close to London. When the sirens sounded, the teachers would usher all the children into the air raid shelters in the playground, while the bombs rained down. There were no mobile phones in those days; I didn’t know anyone with even a landline. So, not only did our mothers not know if their children were safe from Hitler’s bombs, the children also had no idea either if their parents or their homes, would still be there after the ‘all clear’ sounded. If we managed to survive through those horrendous times, I certainly think today’s children could survive a school day without being glued to their phones.

Mrs lesleY snape, sheffield. WHEN MPs stop using their phones and tablets in the Commons, which they seem glued to instead of listening to debates, then there is an argument for banning mobiles in schools. JaMes wiGnall, accrington, lancs.