School Directions

Drakus

We have a 17 yesr old girl in 5th year, 5th year and 6th year are probably the two most important years in any pupils schooling. I think this is wrong but it is the system we live with and as we all know the resuts in the leaving cert can determine what choices open up for a young adult as they go forward in life. Anyway last week we recieved some correspondence from the school regarding the use of mobile phones outside school. The gist of the correspondence was mobile phones should be removed from kids bedrooms at bedtime. The reasons were varied, a good nights sleep, social media bullying ect. Now in the main I happen to agree with this and I know others will dissagree but at the least I think it is more a good idea than a bad idea. My issue is my wife is ignoring the correspondence from the school and I suspect she does not want to damage as she see it her relationship with her daughter. Now she is not alone in this I see it quite a bit, parents unwilling to upset their children with any kind of disciplin. To end I will say my daughter is a good kid, studies well, plays sport and generally trustworthy but I do know she uses her phone late into the night, not all the time but it does keep her up late from time to time. I would like to know the thoughts of other parents mainly on the schools stance and if I am the one out of kilter in agreeing with them, also if I do want to stick to my pov what is the best way forward so the whole house doee not end up in upheval.

Baybay

I'm usually very supportive of school led initiatives however, I would choose to see this as advice rather than direction & would use my own judgement with my daughter as to whether to interfere with her phone usage or not.

shesty

Mm......my kids are not that old but I think you need to see the context here.If she was a young teen maybe, but she's 17 and this doesn't appear to have been an issue before now??If everything is ok, as in she's doing ok at school and is managing ok etc, then I would take it as guidance.
If you are that concerned you could turn off the house wifi when you go uo to bed, seems to me it would give her ample time on her phone on the evenings.I don't know if it would be worth entering into a row about taking it away froml her every night-she is practically a legal adult and it doesn't seem to have been brought up before now.

Dravokivich

This letter very much sounds like the school wants to be seen to encourage what's perceived as more acceptable.

I don't think this is a matter of discipline and you seem to be giving them much more weight as a point of authority.

As an aside, I think you and your wife need to forget about this letter, but think of your approach to how you do things with/for your children. A relationship with our children isn't just about being mates, or making things easier for them. We may find ourselves making a decision they don't agree with. How you handle that is a major part of developing a relationship with someone. And I personally believe our children need us to make decisions they disagree with.

mirrorwall14

I don’t think it needs to be the schools letter that causes it but 17, still in school, a discussion would be wise about what is an appropriate time to put it on the charger and go to sleep in light of school/work in the morning. Also practise what you preach in this regard. If the plan is for her to leave your phone to downstairs for example given the reasons above, then everyone should follow the same procedure given we should all be awake and functioning in the morning

beechwood55

Using phones late at night does not bode well for healthy sleep patterns. For that reason alone I would be of the opinion that it should be put to one side for at least an hour before bed.
Teenagers are the first generation who have had this challenge from a very young age and they will be the ones dealing with the ramifications of excessive/obsessive mobile phone use in years to come.

happywithlife

As a teacher this topic came up this week.as it was safer internet week. Kids openly admitted in class to be being on their phones at all hours - I'm talking 2/3/4 am here. No wonder some of them are wrecked in school then
I don't have teens but I'd be hoping when mine are that age they would have a limited data plan and rely on wifi a lot and I'd be turning it off going to bed