Opinion: Communication the old-fashioned way

A more sinister 'social' use of mobile phones has been highlighted in relation to the 'bullying' of teachers. Students use their phone camera to film teachers they dislike, manipulate the images to cause maximum embarrassment and then post them on the internet. Politicians are calling for a ban on phones in school.

We have not yet had much of a debate about the place of the mobile phone in youth work. There was a time when I valued the opportunities for contact that phones provided, which in turn produced the possibility of rapid response to young people who urgently needed support in one way or another. Indeed, this was the talk when Connexions was launched: personal advisers would be on call 24/7 because young people on their 'caseload' would know their mobile number. I certainly had kids texting me and I would call them back promptly - wherever I was in the world.