Sir, – As a teacher, where I would really like to see phone pouches used is at home with a curfew of 8pm or 9pm. The parent would put their child’s phone into said pouch and not to be retrieved until the following morning.
Many a random survey in class would indicate far too late a bedtime for most teenagers, with some not going to sleep until the early hours, long after their parents have, with sleepy and at worst difficult behaviour the following day. Adequate sleep is necessary to aid memory of what they have learned during the day.
My own school is in the third year of a ban; if phones are seen they are confiscated, and must be retrieved by a parent from senior management. This works well. Where more enforcement is needed is at home, where the devices are purchased for them.
It’s not easy for parents, but as schools have done, they need to step up and do the unpopular thing. – Yours, etc,
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NIAMH BYRNE,
Fairview,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – At my granddaughter’s school in England, phones are banned.
But the students have their ways to get around this. They say they forgot to bring their phones, hide them deep in a bag or bring in decoys which they then hand over to be locked away.
If a student wants to hold on to a phone, there are multiple ways to get around a ban. – Yours, etc,
JO BURDEN,
Dublin 4.