Responsible Phone Use

We know that many of our students in secondary school have access to mobile phones and recognise that there are many advantages to this.

As parents, you’re able to get in contact with them when they’re away from home and as teachers we know that they give us opportunities to access information and participate in interactive games. However, it is also a big responsibility to allow young people to have access to a mobile phone, not least because they are so expensive! Here are five key tips to share with your children. 

Sharing each other’s contact information 

All students at TBSW have a school email address so if they need to get in contact with each other outside of school they can always use this system. They need to remember that it’s not their decision to give out someone else’s phone number without permission. 

Late night messaging 

Lots of young people feel the pressure to always respond to their friends' messages and social media posts whatever the time of night. Keeping phones out of their (and our!) bedrooms at night can help reduce the anxiety to always be available and can help with getting a good night’s sleep. 

Online bullying 

When I spoke to the students abut how to respond to online bullying they were all able to tell me about blocking and reporting other users. It’s important to keep reitteratnig this message and reminding students that they should feel safe and respencted online, just as much as in real life. 

Social media pressure 

There is a lot of pressure that some students feel to consistently post on social media and to post in a particular way. This can be hard for us to understand. The best way to support them with this is to listen to how they are feeling and set clear boundaries for what is acceptable for you as a family. 

Older children sharing phones with younger siblings 

While parents of secondary children may feel comfortable with how their chldren are using their phones, it’s often not the case that you would allow the same freedoms for younger children. When you have children with vairying ages at home try to engage older children in how they can keep younger siblings safe. In some cases younger children who borrow their older siblings’ devices might be able to access content that they might usually be blocked from. Older siblings need to know when it is an isn’t ok to share their phones. 

Alexandra Hands

Deputy Head Pastoral