Can a school confiscate a mobile phone for more than a day?

[Vaud]

HedgeyGedgey said:

cmaguire said:

Then again, do you really not have enough free time of a day that you can play with your phone in your time?
Please excuse me if you are a young entrepreneur running a blue chip startup whilst still at college.

My study routine means i go through the lecture slides before the actual lecture. I know what its about, I've already got some notes for it. If theres anything the lecturer adds information wise then I'll add that to my existing notes. Then every few weeks I'll shrink those notes down and put them into a file ready for the exam where the notes are much easier to read. That takes up the majority of my time. If the lecturer doesnt add anything or add to my understanding of the subject, why cant i be in my phone? Well running my own business will happen in due course, gotta sort other things in life out first

You’ve missed the point of a University education, or you are at the wrong Uni.

Hint: stick the phone in your bag, and engage with the lecturer on the topic. You will learn more. Push the boundaries of your understanding, not “what do I need for the exam”

[misterman]

mickmcpaddy said:

Banning would be but keeping it would be. I thought someone above said the parents sign a contract?

The so called "behavior contracts" are not contracts at all, and putting the word contract in them does not change this.
Also If it was a contract it would need to be agreed by the pupil not the parents, any sort of agreement regarding the pupil would have to be between the pupil and the 3rd party.

[misterman]

Efbe said:

Posters have talked about teachers earning respect, but seriously, how can a teacher ever earn respect if they are not listened to, sworn at, intimidated and sometimes even attacked. Respect of the teacher should be the default position when a child arrives at school. Unfortunately those days are long gone.

I agree
However some teachers, and even one poster on this thread (i believe it was you) go further than this. and consider themselves to be the pupils "betters" and demand absolute control and obedience..
This is demanding far more than just respect and as long as they have this attitude they will have no respect at all.

Also, the days when teachers were respected never existed, i know people in their 60s and older who went to schools where the kids run riot and sometimes the teachers had to barricade themselves in because groups of kids came to school armed.

[cmaguire]

Someone left the gate open when the asylum shut for the night.

[XCP]

A great many of the teachers at my school WERE better than me, and I respected them for it. To suggest otherwise is nonsense.

[Tankrizzo]

misterman said:

I agree
However some teachers, and even one poster on this thread (i believe it was you) go further than this. and consider themselves to be the pupils "betters" and demand absolute control and obedience..
This is demanding far more than just respect and as long as they have this attitude they will have no respect at all.

Also, the days when teachers were respected never existed, i know people in their 60s and older who went to schools where the kids run riot and sometimes the teachers had to barricade themselves in because groups of kids came to school armed.

They are their betters. Regardless of what the kids think. The kids are there to take part and learn off someone who is more experienced and qualified. The rest of your post makes you sound like a whiny entitled 16-year-old.

It is quite illuminating that we have two current students on this thread who think it perfectly acceptable to sit in front of a lecturer and fk about on their mobile phone. A sad reflection on young adults.

[HedgeyGedgey]

Tankrizzo said:

They are their betters. Regardless of what the kids think. The kids are there to take part and learn off someone who is more experienced and qualified. The rest of your post makes you sound like a whiny entitled 16-year-old.

It is quite illuminating that we have two current students on this thread who think it perfectly acceptable to sit in front of a lecturer and fk about on their mobile phone. A sad reflection on young adults.

I had a great game of 8 ball pool with the girl next to me in one of lectures last year, now that was fking about and not caring/being rude. Not quietly messaging someone, not disturbing anyone but myself. Don't see what the big deal is tbh

[anonymous-user]

It may be not so much the texting as the attitude that is inviting adverse comment.

Also, why go to the lectures at all if you have the material already? You could spend the hour either studying or having fun. Is the university in the Russell Group?

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 12th November 06:20

[e30m3Mark]

misterman said:

I agree
However some teachers, and even one poster on this thread (i believe it was you) go further than this. and consider themselves to be the pupils "betters" and demand absolute control and obedience..
This is demanding far more than just respect and as long as they have this attitude they will have no respect at all.

Also, the days when teachers were respected never existed, i know people in their 60s and older who went to schools where the kids run riot and sometimes the teachers had to barricade themselves in because groups of kids came to school armed.

Do you consider yourself their equal?

Sorry but you're being naive if you think that being a teacher didn't used to command respect. Society as a whole held teachers in high regard and for the main, pupils knew their place.

I don't see the need for distractions, like mobile phones, in the classroom. It's unlikely any pupil is going to be at risk of harm if they're unable to send a snap cat or poke someone on the face book. If a teacher / tutor is giving a lecture, why not just give them your full attention?

[Willy Nilly]

HedgeyGedgey said:

Don't see what the big deal is tbh

You will see what the big deal is when you eventually grow up and join the workforce.

[Efbe]

e30m3Mark said:

misterman said:

I agree
However some teachers, and even one poster on this thread (i believe it was you) go further than this. and consider themselves to be the pupils "betters" and demand absolute control and obedience..
This is demanding far more than just respect and as long as they have this attitude they will have no respect at all.

Also, the days when teachers were respected never existed, i know people in their 60s and older who went to schools where the kids run riot and sometimes the teachers had to barricade themselves in because groups of kids came to school armed.

Do you consider yourself their equal?

Sorry but you're being naive if you think that being a teacher didn't used to command respect. Society as a whole held teachers in high regard and for the main, pupils knew their place.

I don't see the need for distractions, like mobile phones, in the classroom. It's unlikely any pupil is going to be at risk of harm if they're unable to send a snap cat or poke someone on the face book. If a teacher / tutor is giving a lecture, why not just give them your full attention?

quite right.
When I was teaching a class (gave up teaching a decade or so ago) of any age, many of the parts the student will think is not essential to learning are actually the important bits.

If I explain to university age students a new equation, this is what they will write down. But they learn nothing from this. The preceding explanation of why you need this and the demonstration of how it works are the important parts, but the really essential part is the bit after where I may use an analogy to put this equation into a scenario that can be easily recalled by the student.

The student in this thread that only pays attention to what they think they need to know would have only written down the equation, or they may already know it. What they have failed to learn is the context of when they will need it, what it actually means and how it can be put into practice, and most importantly a small memorable story of how it has worked in a situation I think they will be able to relate to.
All of the other fluff I will waffle on about is the important part. If I can convey all of this to the student they will achieve 100% in their exams without the need to revise. This is not an exaggeration.


Back to my biggest issue with students not paying attention/messing around/distracting etc:
It is hard to explain to someone that has not been in the situation of teaching, but to be able to get anything through to them at all you need them to listen, not some, but all. (There are techniques to achieve this, and many students will tell you that the teacher needs to inspire the students to get them to listen. This is wrong. Whilst it sounds nice, 90% of what you need to teach will not and cannot be inspiring, especially when working from a curriculum designed to bore )
The main problem here is not that you have to engage some of the children, but you have to engage all of them. Should one child stop listening, they WILL disrupt the rest of the class. The children that were listening will stop. As soon as a student realises others are not paying attention, they too will stop. This happens from nursery to university and means that one student on a phone will prevent your teaching from fully working.

A good teacher in a disciplined and attentive class will be able to teach in 15 minutes what another teacher without full control will teach in a week, or more. Again this is not exaggeration. Our education system has made great leaps forward in how we teach, what we teach and our civilisation has made huge advances in what there is to teach. However all of this feels to have been counteracted by a reduction in what we are able to teach due to lower levels of control, attention and behaviour.