[Niall]

I think the technophobic stance some schools take to students and electronics is just silly. They can help a lot really. In my school, when you were in Year 7-11, you weren't allowed your phone at all. If you were caught with it, it would be confiscated, parents phoned, and then you'd be suspended for a day. The same goes for iPods/MP3 players. It's a idiotic rule, because everyone brings their phones/iPods in regardless. It does nothing to deter the problem. Tablets/laptops are completely banned too, obviously.

But once you get to Sixth Form, you're allowed to have your phone with you, so long as its not used within lessons (other than to record homework etc). Tablets and laptops are allowed in lessons and in the common room if you want to take notes/do work with them. It's a much more relaxed attitude and it works a lot better than lower down the school. I don't text half as much in lessons now as I did in Year 11. And I take my laptop in to do notes all the time too. I took History and Psychology and the amount of notes and writing you do in both is huge, so being able to type it all out is a boon. Plus I can back it all up to the internet and never lose anything. Ever. It's a win-win situation imo.