Can a school go through a kids phone?

pollypenny

I'm stunned by the name of the site: discord! 

It suggests trouble-making. 

strawb_shortcake

pollypenny said:

I'm stunned by the name of the site: discord! 

It suggests trouble-making. 

I'd never even heard of it until my Husband started uni, he doesn't really use it but it I'd be dubious about my children using it. One night when my Husband was on it, it popped up that someone he knew was on a VR !!!!!! thing

Scorpio33

I don't think its allowed for the head (or anyone) to go through her phone. However, playing devils advocate, I would say that from what you have said, she handed her phone over and willingly gave him the code to unlock it and therefore gave the head permission (perhaps without realising) for him to have full access to her phone. I don't agree with him posting or checking her phone, but just trying to think what the schools argument would be.

If she refused to unlock it and he then punished her for that, I would have an issue, as people are entitled to their privacy. I don't think that's what happened here though.

powerful_Rogue

Whatsapp is for users aged 16+.

So although you have banned her from using it (which she shouldn't have been using in the first place), maybe you should keep that ban in place for another 5 years.

Maybe you should be going through her phone and removing any non age complaint apps and turning on child controls so she can't just download apps.

yksi

Points to ponder:

Discord is a messenger service primarily used by gamers. There is nothing sinister about the system itself. It simply allows you to talk to one another (or send text messages) while you are working together at playing a game. Think "msn messenger for games".

I don't entirely agree with a teacher going through a pupil's phone, and definitely not sending messages from it. But we weren't there at the time and it becomes a game of Telegraph. How did the conversation go... perhaps the teacher asked if the child was involved, to which she answered no, and then offered her phone to prove it? The disturbing part is that it was retained before the teacher spoke with the parent. I have to applaud the OP for focussing on the bullying and not on the issue of the phone itself. That must have taken some restraint but well done for picking your battles here. And you've shown considerable grace in admitting that your kid, while possibly not the instigator, wasn't in the clear. It isn't easy.

And lastly, I had a very intelligent teenaged daughter who, at not much older than this kid, was groomed by an online predator, someone she had gotten to know via social media and considered a friend. And I trusted her. And she knew how to keep her private info safe from "creeps". What kids CANNOT do is to judge risk; if they could, they'd be allowed to drive. Children will and do trust people they consider to be friends. So once the creep has become a friend, your seemingly intelligent kid will have dropped all defenses and these creeps can cause incredible damage.

So trust your kids but for their safety I beg of you all, read their phones and know who they're talking to and what it's about.

powerful_Rogue

yksi said:

Points to ponder:

Discord is a messenger service primarily used by gamers. There is nothing sinister about the system itself. It simply allows you to talk to one another (or send text messages) while you are working together at playing a game. Think "msn messenger for games".

I don't entirely agree with a teacher going through a pupil's phone, and definitely not sending messages from it. But we weren't there at the time and it becomes a game of Telegraph. How did the conversation go... perhaps the teacher asked if the child was involved, to which she answered no, and then offered her phone to prove it? The disturbing part is that it was retained before the teacher spoke with the parent. I have to applaud the OP for focussing on the bullying and not on the issue of the phone itself. That must have taken some restraint but well done for picking your battles here. And you've shown considerable grace in admitting that your kid, while possibly not the instigator, wasn't in the clear. It isn't easy.

And lastly, I had a very intelligent teenaged daughter who, at not much older than this kid, was groomed by an online predator, someone she had gotten to know via social media and considered a friend. And I trusted her. And she knew how to keep her private info safe from "creeps". What kids CANNOT do is to judge risk; if they could, they'd be allowed to drive. Children will and do trust people they consider to be friends. So once the creep has become a friend, your seemingly intelligent kid will have dropped all defenses and these creeps can cause incredible damage.

So trust your kids but for their safety I beg of you all, read their phones and know who they're talking to and what it's about.

Discord was made popular by gamers, however now it's a vast service which caters for everyone and everything.

Marvel1

TWIGLET1234 said:

My daughter aged 11 had to hand over her phone and give her passcode as she’d been in a group chat involving bullying. Luckily she wasn’t a bully but was a member of the chat and the school wanted to screen grab the messages. She willingly gave the phone but the school obviously looked through all her past  messages, found some between her friends from last week basically commenting on the attention seeking behaviour of a pupil in their class (the victim of the initial investigation) and she’s been disciplined for that particular chat. The victim was not in that chat or saw the messages (so let’s say they were talking behind her back rather than bullying to her face) 

The head teacher even sent messages from my daughters discord account to her friends who were self isolating, telling them to get off discord and do their home learning when he had it which I think is a bit of line in all honesty. I wonder what else he’s gone though on her phone!! 

School was correct 

onomatopoeia99

Since while a lot has been written no-one has answered the original question correctly, the answer is that absent consent, and I'd argue that an 11 year old cannot give meaningful informed consent especially in a pupil - teacher relationship due to the profound power imbalance,  a court order or S49 notice under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) is required to access information on a phone.  The police can't make anyone unlock their phone or delete data from it without jumping through a series of legal hoops, and nor can a headteacher.  Any "school phone policy" does not magically override the law. 

Using the child's phone to phone to impersonate her in communications with her friends is an egregious abuse of power.  I'm astonished more people haven't picked up on this.

gavinaw

I agree that your daughter deserves to be punished for bullying, but what the school administration did was so wrong. There could be other forms of punishment that your daughter could have received, but violating her privacy and impersonating as her is just too much. 

Mojisola

onomatopoeia99 said:

Using the child's phone to phone to impersonate her in communications with her friends is an egregious abuse of power.  I'm astonished more people haven't picked up on this.

"The head teacher even sent messages from my daughters discord account to her friends who were self isolating, telling them to get off discord and do their home learning"

This doesn't sound as if the Headteacher impersonated the daughter but I do think the messages shouldn't have been sent using the child's phone.  The other children and their parents should have been contacted through the usual channels.

However, it's so good to hear of a school reacting promptly to bullying that I'd let it go in this instance.

So many schools blame the victim or refuse to believe that bullying happens in their school.