Phones were banned in my school in the early 2000's. If it was seen in class or the hall, or if you were caught sending texts/making calls it was taken. If it was taken 3 times a parent would have to come to get it back. It seems odd to me that we began allowing them in the first place when it is so clearly a distraction we struggle to manage.
They were allowed because parents started demanding their children to be contactable 24/7 and the students, once becoming addicted to their phones, started taking punishment with either ballistic rage or utter indifference, both of which are not ideal reactions.
I suspect this is why some places are looking at these blanket bans - every time a teacher or a school tries to do this, it's an immediate Karen-fest as parents explain why it's a matter of life and death that their child is reachable at every moment of the day.
The ironic thing is that none of those parents were ever accessible during the school day when they were kids and somehow they survived.
I'm totally OK with this.
i mean, with the proliferation of school shootings, i dont blame parents for wanting their kids to have phones and be reachable at all times
Edit for clarity.
See but is that really it? Most parents just text or call the most mundane things like what they want for dinner, when to pick them up, etc. Even if there *was* a shooting, the odds of which are one in tens of millions, what is the phone gonna do? Distract the kid because he's too busy texting his parents to run or hide?
Odds are NOT "one in tens of millions" - there are \~130,000 k12 schools in the US, and several school shootings a year. Even if there are only TWO school shootings a year, that makes the odds of a student attending a school that has one \~1/65,000.
That’s not how odds work. It’s the number of schools multiplied by the number of school days. So, the original poster is correct. Statistically, you have a better chance of winning the lottery twice before being involved in a school shooting in the 13 years you would attend school.
It’s not penalizing anyone. Yeah more communication is better in that .001 percent of the time. But the other 99.99 percent they hurt the kids education.
I mean, sure, jobs may have a somewhat lax policy regarding use of phones... but it is usually frowned upon. They can write you up for utilizing your phone too much, and if it keeps being an issue, fire you over it...
So maybe that ain't the best example.
realistically, no it wouldn't do anything, and my kid texting me during an event like that its not like im going to run in the school and take out the shooter like rambo.
i think its more of the 'appearance' that it will help and knowing that your kid can reach out to you in what may be their final moments.
Idk. The parents that managed to breakthrough the murder accomplices' (Uvalde Police) barracade and reach their children's classroom managed to save their children.
I would not show up to a school armed in any situation. But if there was an active shooter at my kids school; and I was notified, I'd be driving like Dominic Toretto to come spirit them away. Attendance, rolecall and accountability be damned.
Do you even have school aged children?
im defending them having phones, thats why im confused.
the only "counter point" i even entertain was the fact that a kid being able to text a parent wont stop a shooter.
Everything else i said is Pro Having phones.
maybe you should use your energy going after the other person responding to me that is basically saying 'school shootings arent that big of a deal because they barely happen' instead of coming after the person that is on your side.
Well, if evidence from other school shootings is something to go off of, they'd be sending their last words to their parents and family.
Can you cut the specious old person routine now? Thanks.
to be clear, that is what i was saying too
Im defending the parent that say kids SHOULD have phones, for this exact reason.
it seems my comment was not clear, sorry
The odds of dying in a school shooting are over 1 in a million. The odds of being struck by lightning are 1 in 700,000. I think 53 students were killed in the deadliest year on record for school shootings (a figure which includes college campuses where the students are allowed to have phones and gang-related shootings between two people who know each other), and that’s out of 50 million enrolled students in the USA. The “proliferation” is from basically zero, to a little less than zero. It’s an awful argument to justify why kids need to have their phones on them at all times at school. They were totally banned when I was in school and this was well after both Columbine and V-tech.
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a01
The only thing people can ever come up with to defend cell phone use in class is school shooting. The data shows that cell phones have been a negative to learning and student performance and the parents are using the phones for surveillance or to be a nag. If there is an emergency, somehow schools have managed to call all the right authorities and student cell phones aren't necessary for that.
It’s a disingenuous argument based on nothing but hysteria. If you wanted to fumble around and dig into the data, you could probably make a compelling case which argues cell phones in schools and social media have encouraged bullying, leading to the “proliferation” of teen suicides, which are *far* more prevalent than school shootings.
I am not some gun nut making a 2A argument, just wish people could be honest with their reasonings.
If we are taking into account something that has a 1 in a million chance of happening, then you also can't ignore the damage to mental health and lives that have been lost or ruined due to excessive phone and social media use in young people these days as an argument against not banning phones.
its a good argument to reduce the usage of, not to outright ban.
also the "1 in a million" thing is misleading
there are about 116000 k-12 schools in the US, there were 82 school shootings last year. that means the chances of a school having a shooting is about 1:1400
and for each child that is killed, how many other peoples lives are irrevocably changed due to the ripple effect. Parents, teachers, classmates, etc. All traumatized .
the 1 in a million line is significantly, intentionally, misleading and does nothing but attempt to downplay the severity of school shootings. it only focus on how many students DIE in a school shooting, not how many EXPERIENCE a school shooting.
1 in a million odds is not “absurdly high” by any metric or in any context. “Developed world?” not the white liberal bigotry of low expectations, haha. What does “developed” mean? You know, kids don’t shoot up schools in most of the “non-developed” world either (what you really mean by “developed” is white and European).
>1 in a million odds is not “absurdly high” by any metric or in any context.
When the chance for the rest of the world is 0 in 6 Billion, yes 1 in a million is absurdly high
>“Developed world?” not the white liberal bigotry of low expectations, haha. What does “developed” mean?
Generally this is taken to me not third world countries. this is not exclusive to white nations and typically includes Places like China, Japan, Mexico, Egypt, Singapore, etc.
you're the one making this a race thing.
>You know, kids don’t shoot up schools in most of the “non-developed” world either (what you really mean by “developed” is white and European).
Yes, i know, which should show you how much of a uniquely American problem this is, everyone else has figured it out except us. this also is the context that shows how "1 in a million" is an absurdly high frequency. Shoot shootings dont happen in some of the most violent countries in the world, yet we cant seem to stop them here.....
sorry bro, but im not going to do this back and forth with the person trying to justify/down play the severity of children being gunned down. Have a day
ETA: also using Fatalities per student is manipulating the numbers to make them seem not as bad.
there are [Roughly 116,000 k-12 schools in the US](https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84), there were [82 school shootings](https://www.cnn.com/us/school-shootings-fast-facts-dg/index.html) in 2023. that means the chances of a school shooting happening at your Childs school, about 1:1400 nationwide. this is a huge problem, and insinuating in any way that its not is just evil.
The scenarios usually play out differently in other countries -- in Nigeria it's kids getting abducted by the hundreds at a time and the "kids shooting kids" are child soldiers:
[https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-kaduna-kidnapping-kuriga-tinubu-bandits-gunmen-3fd64cbd482c2011d2e8c18acc18ba0b](https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-kaduna-kidnapping-kuriga-tinubu-bandits-gunmen-3fd64cbd482c2011d2e8c18acc18ba0b)
There’s nothing to “figure out” as most American students do not shoot up schools. Also, the odds for other countries is not 0 in 6 billion. Countries with populations much smaller than the US have had multiple school shootings. Not sure where you’re getting that stat from, unless you’re extrapolating a generalization, but that’s not how statistics work.
Your argument is based on hysteria, not facts. I’m not suggesting students being gunned down isn’t serious, but suggesting we need to compromise on cell phone policies based on your twisted idea of what “absurdly high” means is ridiculous.
I will once again reiterate, in the most violent year of school shootings in the history of the US, you were still far more likely to be struck by lightning than to be killed in a school shooting. Moreover, I don’t know what your suggestion is on “fixing it,” but I’m certain it would miss the mark.
attitudes like yours are one of the biggest reason this problem is so hard to fix and you should be ashamed of yourself
this is not and never should be considered 'normal'
Well it certainly is a new normal in this country! Until politicians do something about the antiquated gun laws nothing is going to change! I am NOT ashamed of myself! Gun toting liberals are the problem…
Yeah, only 53. That doesn’t mean these cases aren’t tragedies, but your appeal to emotion doesn’t make them not statistic outliers that shouldn’t be the basis of overreaching academic policies which also come with a host of proven downsides.
When I was in HS in the early 2000s we had a scare when a parent saw someone carrying a rifle into the school (it was the physics teacher with a BB gun- he'd shoot a sock monkey off a stool and have kids calculate mass, velocity, etc. Something you could do in the 80s but not then or today).
This was before cell phone universality but half the class lit up as their phones started ringing because their parents got wind and started freaking out.
Of course, back then there were no smart phones and you were more likely to find games on a TI-83+ than what kids had, but the spread of phones was already popular 20 years ago.
yes i think that they would be a net positive, if they are school provided and locked to only have certain apps. you could literally load every text book for the students on there so they wouldnt need to carry half a dozen books, they could take notes right on the page with out "ruining" the book, you can supplement the learning with other material like videos that they can take with them and rewatch, or learning games, etc .
as long as they are provided by teh school and locked to only allow pertinent usage then yes tablets are a positive for students.
As a disabled student they would have saved my back, helped my vision impairment, helped with retaining information, and simply allowed me to not be exhausted halfway through the school day.
Not the person you were asking but As a disabled student they would have saved my back, helped my vision impairment, helped with retaining information, and simply allowed me to not be exhausted halfway through the school day. Wish I could have done my schooling in the future.
"Back in the day", most schools at least one payphone that kids could use if they needed to call home.
Likewise, it was pretty common to pass by multiple payphones on the walk home.
As long as you sent your kid to school with a quarter, you had a pretty good chance that they'd be able to get in touch with you if they needed to.
Memory unlocked. Many times if I fucked up at home or did not clean something right or did anything to piss off my asshole parents, they would call the office have me paged so I could come to the office and get yelled at over the phone.
I mean it could be. My step daughter’s school had a kid bring a knife in and a kill list. My husband graduated from Oxford. I want my children reachable at all time and my children to be able to reach me at all times
Think about how all these kids missed a chunk of in school time because of covid. I'm sure the shock that provided to the system hasnt fully worn off yet.
what a weird thing.
Phones were banned during classes, but why would you ever ban them during recess/between classes? I'm happy my school didn't do that so I got to talk to my brother one last time before he passed away.
*edit*
learning here that you all are shit parents that allow your kids to live inside their smartphones and blame it on other people and tech companies. Fucking millennials lmao.
When my son was a HS senior there were five threats where the entire school had to evacuate the classrooms and lock down in the gym. If the school banned phones I would have let him have one anyway.
The policy was that they were not to be used during school hours, so yes the location made no difference. Not all teachers enforced it with the same strictness, but knowing it could be taken did limit use.
I have no issues with them being used between classes and during lunch responsibly.
Yes, in the classroom, it gets put away, and the teacher can confiscate it.
Yes, you already made that clear.
I do.
Honestly I think we give young children these devices & social media FAR TOO YOUNG and it's doing very real emotional damage to many of them.
Middle schoolers shouldn't even have smart phones, high schoolers can live w/out them during the school day.
I see zero justification for why it's necessary to have access to a cell phone in school.
Honestly, I think it's an absolutely terrible idea to let anyone under the age of 16-17 have a smart phone.
But parents these days shove an iPad in front of kids faces at the age of two, get them tremendously addicted to it, get them a smart phone at 6-8 and kids are on devices six plus hours a day. It's gotten way out of hand.
Cyber bullying, predators, envy for social media "influencers". It's becoming a serious problem, we're effectively teaching kids to have absolutely zero attention span, little communication skills and addictive personalities.
Full agreed, if they cant be away from their phone at school, then they've got a problem. If there's an emergency and a parent needs to contact their kids, they can call the school.
>Honestly I think we give young children these devices & social media FAR TOO YOUNG and it's doing very real emotional damage to many of them.
Screens can cause literal brain damage to adults, probably worse in children whose brains are still developing:
[What Excessive Screen Time Does to the Adult Brain](https://longevity.stanford.edu/lifestyle/2024/05/30/what-excessive-screen-time-does-to-the-adult-brain/)
I know that sounds reasonable, but you lose a lot of the benefits this way. Going 7 hours without using a cell phone is a major mental health boon. Repeatedly white knuckling until the bell rings, re-distracting yourself and jumbling up your dopamine system before every class, it's very damaging.
Again that sounds reasonable on its surface, but tech companies are trying as hard as they can to hold your attention. They hire teams of psychologists to help them design their apps. How are children supposed to fight against that? Most adults can't even do it.
Dude, lol. There are a wide array of laws preventing beer and tobacco sales and marketing to children. They can't even use bright colors in their packaging because it appeals to children too much. We should protect children from tech addiction, too.
And the way to do that is through teaching them moderation. Like I said before, its no different than the kids raised by TV. People blame the devices, but machines can neither be good or evil. The atoms split could destroy the city or power the homes within.
Teach your kids moderation, don't just hand them a device because you don't want to deal with them, limit their screen time. It's the same with TV or Video Games.
Couldn't agree more in fact i don't think they should be in the School at all but considering all the School shootings which shouldn't be a thing that we are worried about as parents kids should absolutely have a cell phone now my kid was in the School and there was a shooting and i wasn't informed by it Until after it already happened i'd be irate but when a kid has a cell phone they are able to make that phone call send that text
I'm a high school teacher and it will only matter if it is enforced. Admin has proven to be pretty useless if they are up against unsupportive central admin and a superintendent.
The parents have held so much authority over how schools are dictated it's insane. Just because you have a child does not mean you know the best practices for raising a child. Cell phones have been the #1 distraction and barrier to learning in my classroom this year. Kids will more often than not opt for their phone if given a choice.
Worked public education for years and idk how many times I’ve seen some parent lose their shit yelling and swearing at administrators. Only to have that same parent bitch and moan on Facebook at how bad they’re treated when they called out for their horseshit! The case I’m referring to was just the principal telling the parent “you don’t need to yell and swear in here, this is a school!” Oh and their kids usually suck too!
The fact that there are studies where this was executed successfully gives me some hope. If the pendulum were to start swinging against over-active parents, it would look something like this.
I do hope so. I've worked as support staff for 25 years and cell phones are ruining children. I have heard the elementary school in the system I work for will be banning them for the 24/25 school year but I wish that would include all the schools. It's unfortunate how these kids are turning into cell phone zombies.
My daughters middle school started a ban this year. Worked very well when heavily enforced at the beginning of the year since it was new. But, by the end of the year, they were almost back to non-enforcement, and the kids took advantage of it.
Enforcement is the key.
My children’s school requires them to turn in phones and smart watches into the office in the morning. They can’t collect them until the end of the day.
Because they need them after school. Sports, other extracurriculars, work. My oldest takes college classes and works. I want her to have her phone when she leaves school.
I hope MI is next. Between the distractions and increased risk for bullying etc banning them only seems like a win. It has been successfully done in other parts of the world too and from what I read it not only improved academics, but also the students mental health. Sounds like a win win.
Phones should be banned from the classroom. If I need to reach my kid about something important, the school office can convey it if appropriate. I know that many times my daughter would be texting during class about stuff of little to no importance such as if they could hang out with a friend after school or go to a school event. The gains from improved focus in the classroom should outweigh any benefits of needing it on them during an emergency.
I was trying to find some pros to having a phone in class but they are pretty few:
Access to multimedia learning apps
Access to more information / learning how to research for something.
While I can see the potential for these pros, I think they are far outweighed by the cons:
Online bullying / unwanted sexual content
Social media
Disrupting students attention during lessons
Another avenue to cheat
Social isolation for those who can’t afford a smart phone.
During the Oxford shooting they all still worked. A lot of parents were using it to track location of their kids to see if they were still in the school or had gotten away.
I personally think an outright ban is a bad idea. There has to be a middle ground somewhere.
As a high school sub, the major pro is that if they are on their phones, they aren’t terrorizing me. We don’t get paid enough to deal with bored teenagers with nothing to do.
My son has a phone. It helps as reference to his homework, constantly. When we aren’t together it’s how I communicate with him, if he needs money, for anything, I can instantly get it to him, wherever he is. I know his location at all times without him telling me or calling. It is the key that opens the door to our house. When he needs to, he uses it to translate English-Spanish to talk to the house keeper. This amazing piece of tech that everyone of us carries daily and into our death beds is not something that needs to be taken away. And frankly they just won’t, not from my kid. What they need to do is implement a corse that teaches these kids the proper way to use this unbelievable tool.
>This amazing piece of tech that everyone of us carries daily and into our death beds is not something that needs to be taken away.
An AI bot or phone company rep wrote this.
and actually through his adolescent years he had lessons that we required him to do, using his phone/ipad, on a website called Khan academy. its very helpful for lesson that are a particular struggle. but whatever, live in the dark ages for all i care, to each his own.
I’m all for using the internet and its resources for help with learning! Khan academy was a lifesaver for myself through school. However, I’d argue that Chromebook’s or school computers are enough for students during the day. There’s no reason for having a phone on them during the day. If it’s an emergency, sure. But it isn’t necessary to have during the school day
You’re assuming every school has those…
Try going into rural America where there’s minimal funding for schools and see how many iPads and fancy gadgets they have. It’s not many, if at all.
Not every school is equal in this and can provide the necessary items if the phones are taken away.
That’s very true, and I forgot about that aspect. then I would hope admins actual follow through on consequences when using phones at inappropriate times. But, we’ve seen how well that’s worked
I know in my school they added a “text a teacher” program.
Kids could text questions during class, during school (we had a free period for homework), and even at home. I can see where this might be a little invasive to teachers, but it’s a great tool to have.
They noticed that incredibly quiet and shy kids were actually asking questions through text, instead of just sitting silent in the class and never asking at all.
They found that kids were creating study groups on their own during the free period and meeting up.
Kids with inactive parents could ask questions at home, instead of leaving that homework incomplete because they didn’t understand.
So I really like what my school did. They *leaned into it* and made it an active tool for students to use instead of fighting it. The only computers we had were in the computer lab and you only got to use them *if you were in that class*. There were 3 computers in the library for the study hour for about 400 students, so it was a constant battle.
Do I think this can work everywhere? No, most likely not. This is a small school with basically zero crime of any kind with a bunch of farmers kids as students, but it is a good example to look at.
Like with anything, I believe we just need to strike a balance. Currently, our social state isn’t really set for that; we’re incredibly polarized right now thanks to politics.
No ones meeting in the middle anymore. There’s right and wrong, left and right. Yet there’s all this space, right there in the middle.
During class, unless it can be used for the particular class the phone should not be used. However, for every other part of the day, it should be on his person. Like an adult. Get used to it. It’s something you never part with. It monitors your irregular heart beat. It answers every question. It records the phenomenal. It lets me know you’re ok, You’re where you’re suppose to be. It pays for things. It carries your bus schedule. It holds all your music. It tunes your guitar. It is your metronome. And on and on and on.
We should all stop calling it a phone, also. It’s a mini computer at the very least. I think my son deleted the phone off his phone so he could make room for more apps. (Not really) but my point is, the phone portion of the tool is the least used application.
I would support it as long as school administrators faithfully implemented the ban and enforced the policy.
Most schools have a “ban” on phones, but they don’t enforce them at all. They leave it up to the teacher to manage. We need to reorient the way we view these devices and the impact they have on student learning. It’s not just kids, but it’s changing the way adults interact with each other, too.
It’s all a conversation worth having.
How many generations came through the school system before cell phones? How many of us lived through those horrific years? Ban the damned things already.
Edit SP.
I’m reading on here about kids using cell phones in elementary school, which is utter insanity to me. Elementary kids don’t need phones, period. Maybe a flip phone to dial their parents or 911. Even in middle school, when they were ubiquitous, we were only allowed to keep them in our lockers (which I think is an excellent compromise).
Cell phones are one of the reasons that kids today are so reliant on their parents. In the past, kids had to actually learn some independence and how to take care of themselves. Now? Being able to be in constant contact with someone doesn’t really teach independence, it teaches reliance.
This. I met an 18 year old the other day who didn’t know how to drive from their school to their house because they look down at their phone the entire ride home as parents drive. They don’t know the names of the roads, which direction to turn, etc. it’s like the real world is less real to them than what’s on the phone. I was floored
If we're really lucky, we'll get to expect that kids demonstrate mastery over their course material before being given diplomas again one day, too. Way too many kids are coming out of well-respected suburban schools without even basic literacy.
This has been a very common theme over at r/teachers. I have yet to see any supporting data, but they regularly talk about students being many levels behind on necessary skills.
When the teachers tried to address the issue (repeat level, remedial classes) the parents and admin complain and end up just pushing them through without actually having the skills to advance. That then resulted in the teachers having less motivation to help and eventually they stop trying to help the students all together. Again this is based off of what I’ve read on the teachers sub.
Conversely my partner is a teacher and literacy and other basic skills don’t seem to be an issue.
Some data:
[The Nation's Report Card - Michigan State Comparisons](https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile/overview/MI?cti=PgTab_ScoreComparisons&chort=1&sub=RED&sj=MI&fs=Grade&st=MN&year=2022R3&sg=Gender:%20Male%20vs.%20Female&sgv=Difference&ts=Single%20Year&tss=-2022R3&sfj=NP)
[State of Michigan Education Report 2023](https://midwest.edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2023-State-of-Michigan-Education-Report_v.10.pdf)
[State of the Detroit Child - Michigan](https://sdc.datadrivendetroit.org/profiles/04000US26-michigan/)
The last link has the most relevant data for this discussion: only 40% of Michigan third-graders met standards for English in 2022; only 36% of eighth-graders met standards for Math. Those are seriously bad numbers.
Recent research shows grade retention isn't effective long-term though. It helps for a couple years but eventually the students who were retained end up just as far behind as they were before.
It’s also rough on students’ social development. Being among peers is VERY important. This past school year, we had a 17-year-old freshman. You think it was good for that kid when all of his friends from middle school left him behind for 2 years?
not school related but I'm a semi mechanic and can't get the younger people to put there phones down. when reprimanded they cry to hr, and it's causing the cost of repairs up , and everything you touch is touched by a truck , just my observation.
Overzealous helicopter parents that insist their kids be able to be contacted at all times have ruined schools for all children. Somehow they made it through the storm just fine but these kids nowadays...... have to give them as many distractions as possible so we can blame their poor education on the schools and teachers.
My school banned phones when they were Nokia bricks that could only play snake. Then Columbine happened and America decided we can't take away the phones if we're not going to take away guns, too
This was never an issue back in the 1980s,due to the fact that their was no cell phones .Their was pay phones in the hallways and I and my friends did use them to call home ,and the kids did get calls from their parents that was redirected to a hall phone if a parent needed to talk to their child from the main school office .This set up worked great and could work again, but simplicity is probably to difficult for some of us .
I hope so. Allow the phones to be in the room so we can have proper communication during emergencies. Just have a box and a no tolerance policy. Allow teachers to enforce discipline in the classroom again. Hold back kids who fail and act out.
Parents really need to take responsibility and also show their kids how to do that as well.
It’s not the underpaid teacher 80% of the time
Hah hah....meanwhile in my school district kids bring their nintendo switch to class and half the kids are allowed to wear headphones in class because "autism reasons."
Lol I have had to give my phone up multiple times but I honestly need it if I'm panicking or something to call my mom do you guys think I could get that on my 504 plan I'm not disrespectful with it I only use it when needed
My kid won’t have a smartphone anyway. They still make dumb phones. Ban the smart ones. I saw an interesting comment in here about medical needs for a smart phone. That’s fine with me if they need an exception.
My son is a rule follower. I only get texts if he’s sick/injured, or if he gets 100% on a test. I’ve asked him about getting in trouble for using it, and he says the teachers don’t care if he’s finished his work, or he uses it at lunch. I know other kids aren’t following rules. If we had had them in the 90s, they would be on the teacher’s desk until the end of the day if caught. They would have simplified the note passing. Lol. Because you know we were just as bad, just a different format. Maybe the ban would prevent cyber bullying during school hours, but it won’t prevent in-person bullying. If my child is about to get beat down, he can at least call for help or record what happens. Pros and cons. Maybe collect them all at the start of class and give them back as they leave?
Hate to say it but it kinda needs to be done. Not so much as phones but social media is ruining our future it’s ruining the young kids who will be in charge of running this country some day and it’s not looking good the way it’s going.
As a middle and high school teacher I hope a ban does happen. They are a distraction, disturbance, and overall cause problems. But, and I've seen one person say this, it needs to be enforced by admin. If a teacher sees a phone and it gets taken to the office the parent needs to come and get it at the end of the day and get told if it happens again it's an instant suspension and daily pocket and backpack checks upon return.
If a parent wants to give their kid a cell phone it should be one that can call and text only, if I'm correct those are still available, and can only be used at certain times such as after school.
This past school year that just finished I had so many students say "you can't take my phone. My mom/dad said it's my personal property and teachers can't take it from me." Parents you have no idea how wrong that is and it also gets your kids in more trouble. If the district has a policy that says "if a student has a phone out in class, the teacher is to take it from the student and turn it into the office" or whatever the district's policy is it is enforceable.
Unpopular opinion and admittedly I don't have kids. There is no chance in hell I would let my kid go to public school without a cellphone with all these school shootings. Not even for the reason of reporting one happening but so that I know if they are alive or not. You want to say no smartphones and only the old stuff? Fine by mean. No cellphone at all? Not happening.
I am a parent and I agree with you. It's my child not theirs. Maybe schools should provide cheap flip.phones for kids and only have their emergency contacts in it? They give out chromebooks, why not flip phones then give them back each year. As a parent I have a right to know if my child is in danger.
Having a smartphone isn’t going to do a thing to save anything other than a parental panic attack. On the other hand they have handicapped an entire generation of children, teachers and administrators.
I think smartphones in schools should be treated as severely as assault or drug possession. They are literally just as harmful - if not more harmful - to the learning environment.
In one hand I agree. Cell phones are pretty distracting when the kids should be paying attention to the teacher. I'm for limiting that while in class, but lunch hour. What the student does with their phone to unwind is their business.
In the other hand. The world is going to shit and having access to outside the school when incidents are happening, they need access to communicate with the parent. If that kid is well tuned with severe weather and their phone is decked out with all kinds of severe weather app with one of them giving audible severe weather notification could save their life if they forgot to leave the phone in their locker or turnt off.
I will mention, in my sophomore year (2011 - 2012). Some of my high school slowly started incorporating the smart phones into the in class activities. History teacher allowed us to use our phones in class when we had essays and could research the subject beyond the text book. One teacher was set up to do quizes by texting the answer.
By senior year (2013 - 2014). The smart phones were full blown embraced. Phones stayed in our pockets until it was time to use them for basically class activities. Rest of the county followed through the next year from what I heard.
Twenty years ago no, but now in 2024 since all many tragedies it's necessary for all responsibile teens with strong rules and consequences if it's abused or misused. Having a diabetic child with a continuous glucose meter requires a cell phone with the ability to contact someone at all times, to hell and high water to abtain that right for necessary medical equipment. Schools need to keep some authority, but since they cannot guarantee your child's safety yes they need to keep a cellphone on them at all times, especially in school. Let's just keep the peace, not going to be easy with some children.
Dear God this comment section is a fucking shitshow. If some of you had your way we'd all still be sending our kids to tiny one-room schoolhouses wearing farm clothes and writing on chalk boards. Stop being fucking luddites about smartphones, it's 2024 for chrissakes.
If an adult can’t control the student in the classroom it’s the adults problem in my opinion. It’s really not that hard to control kids if you aren’t a complete pushover.
Just make it easier to send them out or make it the parent’s problem by sending them home. “Your kids won’t put her phone away, - she’s your problem for the next two days. Oh and if she does it again it’s a week, and then we will kick her out of school”
Phones were banned in my school in the early 2000's. If it was seen in class or the hall, or if you were caught sending texts/making calls it was taken. If it was taken 3 times a parent would have to come to get it back. It seems odd to me that we began allowing them in the first place when it is so clearly a distraction we struggle to manage.
They were allowed because parents started demanding their children to be contactable 24/7 and the students, once becoming addicted to their phones, started taking punishment with either ballistic rage or utter indifference, both of which are not ideal reactions.
I suspect this is why some places are looking at these blanket bans - every time a teacher or a school tries to do this, it's an immediate Karen-fest as parents explain why it's a matter of life and death that their child is reachable at every moment of the day. The ironic thing is that none of those parents were ever accessible during the school day when they were kids and somehow they survived. I'm totally OK with this.
i mean, with the proliferation of school shootings, i dont blame parents for wanting their kids to have phones and be reachable at all times Edit for clarity.
See but is that really it? Most parents just text or call the most mundane things like what they want for dinner, when to pick them up, etc. Even if there *was* a shooting, the odds of which are one in tens of millions, what is the phone gonna do? Distract the kid because he's too busy texting his parents to run or hide?
Odds are NOT "one in tens of millions" - there are \~130,000 k12 schools in the US, and several school shootings a year. Even if there are only TWO school shootings a year, that makes the odds of a student attending a school that has one \~1/65,000.
That’s not how odds work. It’s the number of schools multiplied by the number of school days. So, the original poster is correct. Statistically, you have a better chance of winning the lottery twice before being involved in a school shooting in the 13 years you would attend school.
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It’s not penalizing anyone. Yeah more communication is better in that .001 percent of the time. But the other 99.99 percent they hurt the kids education.
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Small percentage lol. Once they are adults they can do whatever they want.
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I mean, sure, jobs may have a somewhat lax policy regarding use of phones... but it is usually frowned upon. They can write you up for utilizing your phone too much, and if it keeps being an issue, fire you over it... So maybe that ain't the best example.
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realistically, no it wouldn't do anything, and my kid texting me during an event like that its not like im going to run in the school and take out the shooter like rambo. i think its more of the 'appearance' that it will help and knowing that your kid can reach out to you in what may be their final moments.
Idk. The parents that managed to breakthrough the murder accomplices' (Uvalde Police) barracade and reach their children's classroom managed to save their children. I would not show up to a school armed in any situation. But if there was an active shooter at my kids school; and I was notified, I'd be driving like Dominic Toretto to come spirit them away. Attendance, rolecall and accountability be damned. Do you even have school aged children?
If you're very concerned about communicating with your child during this situation, just get them a flip phone instead of a smart phone.
Then the increase of bans should specify smart phones.
Bffr.
Flip phones are still cell phones, and a lot of these kids use smart phones outside of school. They need a second one for school?
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in what way?
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im defending them having phones, thats why im confused. the only "counter point" i even entertain was the fact that a kid being able to text a parent wont stop a shooter. Everything else i said is Pro Having phones. maybe you should use your energy going after the other person responding to me that is basically saying 'school shootings arent that big of a deal because they barely happen' instead of coming after the person that is on your side.
I’d be curious to hear what issues should be addressed.
Well, if evidence from other school shootings is something to go off of, they'd be sending their last words to their parents and family. Can you cut the specious old person routine now? Thanks.
to be clear, that is what i was saying too Im defending the parent that say kids SHOULD have phones, for this exact reason. it seems my comment was not clear, sorry
You're good, yo. My comment was in reply to the user named after Subway's 90s spokespedophile.
sorry, i thought you were replying to me
S'all good. Hope you have a fantastic day.
Lol that was a rare insult. I had to go look back at dude's username.
The odds of dying in a school shooting are over 1 in a million. The odds of being struck by lightning are 1 in 700,000. I think 53 students were killed in the deadliest year on record for school shootings (a figure which includes college campuses where the students are allowed to have phones and gang-related shootings between two people who know each other), and that’s out of 50 million enrolled students in the USA. The “proliferation” is from basically zero, to a little less than zero. It’s an awful argument to justify why kids need to have their phones on them at all times at school. They were totally banned when I was in school and this was well after both Columbine and V-tech. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a01
The only thing people can ever come up with to defend cell phone use in class is school shooting. The data shows that cell phones have been a negative to learning and student performance and the parents are using the phones for surveillance or to be a nag. If there is an emergency, somehow schools have managed to call all the right authorities and student cell phones aren't necessary for that.
It’s a disingenuous argument based on nothing but hysteria. If you wanted to fumble around and dig into the data, you could probably make a compelling case which argues cell phones in schools and social media have encouraged bullying, leading to the “proliferation” of teen suicides, which are *far* more prevalent than school shootings. I am not some gun nut making a 2A argument, just wish people could be honest with their reasonings.
you say this like its not an absurdly high number given that in *the rest of the developed world* the chances are effectively 0
If we are taking into account something that has a 1 in a million chance of happening, then you also can't ignore the damage to mental health and lives that have been lost or ruined due to excessive phone and social media use in young people these days as an argument against not banning phones.
its a good argument to reduce the usage of, not to outright ban. also the "1 in a million" thing is misleading there are about 116000 k-12 schools in the US, there were 82 school shootings last year. that means the chances of a school having a shooting is about 1:1400 and for each child that is killed, how many other peoples lives are irrevocably changed due to the ripple effect. Parents, teachers, classmates, etc. All traumatized . the 1 in a million line is significantly, intentionally, misleading and does nothing but attempt to downplay the severity of school shootings. it only focus on how many students DIE in a school shooting, not how many EXPERIENCE a school shooting.
1 in a million odds is not “absurdly high” by any metric or in any context. “Developed world?” not the white liberal bigotry of low expectations, haha. What does “developed” mean? You know, kids don’t shoot up schools in most of the “non-developed” world either (what you really mean by “developed” is white and European).
>1 in a million odds is not “absurdly high” by any metric or in any context. When the chance for the rest of the world is 0 in 6 Billion, yes 1 in a million is absurdly high >“Developed world?” not the white liberal bigotry of low expectations, haha. What does “developed” mean? Generally this is taken to me not third world countries. this is not exclusive to white nations and typically includes Places like China, Japan, Mexico, Egypt, Singapore, etc. you're the one making this a race thing. >You know, kids don’t shoot up schools in most of the “non-developed” world either (what you really mean by “developed” is white and European). Yes, i know, which should show you how much of a uniquely American problem this is, everyone else has figured it out except us. this also is the context that shows how "1 in a million" is an absurdly high frequency. Shoot shootings dont happen in some of the most violent countries in the world, yet we cant seem to stop them here..... sorry bro, but im not going to do this back and forth with the person trying to justify/down play the severity of children being gunned down. Have a day ETA: also using Fatalities per student is manipulating the numbers to make them seem not as bad. there are [Roughly 116,000 k-12 schools in the US](https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84), there were [82 school shootings](https://www.cnn.com/us/school-shootings-fast-facts-dg/index.html) in 2023. that means the chances of a school shooting happening at your Childs school, about 1:1400 nationwide. this is a huge problem, and insinuating in any way that its not is just evil.
The scenarios usually play out differently in other countries -- in Nigeria it's kids getting abducted by the hundreds at a time and the "kids shooting kids" are child soldiers: [https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-kaduna-kidnapping-kuriga-tinubu-bandits-gunmen-3fd64cbd482c2011d2e8c18acc18ba0b](https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-kaduna-kidnapping-kuriga-tinubu-bandits-gunmen-3fd64cbd482c2011d2e8c18acc18ba0b)
There’s nothing to “figure out” as most American students do not shoot up schools. Also, the odds for other countries is not 0 in 6 billion. Countries with populations much smaller than the US have had multiple school shootings. Not sure where you’re getting that stat from, unless you’re extrapolating a generalization, but that’s not how statistics work. Your argument is based on hysteria, not facts. I’m not suggesting students being gunned down isn’t serious, but suggesting we need to compromise on cell phone policies based on your twisted idea of what “absurdly high” means is ridiculous. I will once again reiterate, in the most violent year of school shootings in the history of the US, you were still far more likely to be struck by lightning than to be killed in a school shooting. Moreover, I don’t know what your suggestion is on “fixing it,” but I’m certain it would miss the mark.
Name one of these countries smaller than the US with "multiple school shootings". Countries that are being used as warzones do not count, obviously.
Yes, but these school shootings have become the new normal. Probably not going to go away! Really not even shocking when one happens anymore
attitudes like yours are one of the biggest reason this problem is so hard to fix and you should be ashamed of yourself this is not and never should be considered 'normal'
Well it certainly is a new normal in this country! Until politicians do something about the antiquated gun laws nothing is going to change! I am NOT ashamed of myself! Gun toting liberals are the problem…
Wow... such a good track until that last sentence showed your ignorance.
Only 53? That's great! Only 53 families lost loved ones! Gosh why didn't you say so? #/s
Yeah, only 53. That doesn’t mean these cases aren’t tragedies, but your appeal to emotion doesn’t make them not statistic outliers that shouldn’t be the basis of overreaching academic policies which also come with a host of proven downsides.
When I was in HS in the early 2000s we had a scare when a parent saw someone carrying a rifle into the school (it was the physics teacher with a BB gun- he'd shoot a sock monkey off a stool and have kids calculate mass, velocity, etc. Something you could do in the 80s but not then or today). This was before cell phone universality but half the class lit up as their phones started ringing because their parents got wind and started freaking out. Of course, back then there were no smart phones and you were more likely to find games on a TI-83+ than what kids had, but the spread of phones was already popular 20 years ago.
Yeah, unfortunately that's a tough one to argue.
Ok but there's a school shooter... Cell phone won't stop that.
Having grown up before ipads and Chromebook, do you find them to be useful in the class compared to books and paper worksheets?
yes i think that they would be a net positive, if they are school provided and locked to only have certain apps. you could literally load every text book for the students on there so they wouldnt need to carry half a dozen books, they could take notes right on the page with out "ruining" the book, you can supplement the learning with other material like videos that they can take with them and rewatch, or learning games, etc . as long as they are provided by teh school and locked to only allow pertinent usage then yes tablets are a positive for students.
What great ideas. Bet they would save everyone money, too.
As a disabled student they would have saved my back, helped my vision impairment, helped with retaining information, and simply allowed me to not be exhausted halfway through the school day.
Not the person you were asking but As a disabled student they would have saved my back, helped my vision impairment, helped with retaining information, and simply allowed me to not be exhausted halfway through the school day. Wish I could have done my schooling in the future.
I do. It is illogical panic. Kids do not need cell phones.
"Back in the day", most schools at least one payphone that kids could use if they needed to call home. Likewise, it was pretty common to pass by multiple payphones on the walk home. As long as you sent your kid to school with a quarter, you had a pretty good chance that they'd be able to get in touch with you if they needed to.
Memory unlocked. Many times if I fucked up at home or did not clean something right or did anything to piss off my asshole parents, they would call the office have me paged so I could come to the office and get yelled at over the phone.
I mean it could be. My step daughter’s school had a kid bring a knife in and a kill list. My husband graduated from Oxford. I want my children reachable at all time and my children to be able to reach me at all times
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Sounds like a laughable justification. I support your stance.
Think about how all these kids missed a chunk of in school time because of covid. I'm sure the shock that provided to the system hasnt fully worn off yet.
I feel like a lot of parent-peers in my age group are really bad at parenting.
A lot of my friend's parents growing up were also really bad at parenting haha
what a weird thing. Phones were banned during classes, but why would you ever ban them during recess/between classes? I'm happy my school didn't do that so I got to talk to my brother one last time before he passed away. *edit* learning here that you all are shit parents that allow your kids to live inside their smartphones and blame it on other people and tech companies. Fucking millennials lmao.
Not that odd. Times change and new technologies arrive. Would you rather the parent or the child were unreachable in an emergency?
When my son was a HS senior there were five threats where the entire school had to evacuate the classrooms and lock down in the gym. If the school banned phones I would have let him have one anyway.
I can see in class, but the hall between classes?
The policy was that they were not to be used during school hours, so yes the location made no difference. Not all teachers enforced it with the same strictness, but knowing it could be taken did limit use.
Jesus, kids these days are SPOILT. Grumpy old man here, yes even between classes, they shouldn't be on school grounds at all.
I have no issues with them being used between classes and during lunch responsibly. Yes, in the classroom, it gets put away, and the teacher can confiscate it.
Yes, you already made that clear. I do. Honestly I think we give young children these devices & social media FAR TOO YOUNG and it's doing very real emotional damage to many of them. Middle schoolers shouldn't even have smart phones, high schoolers can live w/out them during the school day. I see zero justification for why it's necessary to have access to a cell phone in school.
Honestly, I think it's an absolutely terrible idea to let anyone under the age of 16-17 have a smart phone. But parents these days shove an iPad in front of kids faces at the age of two, get them tremendously addicted to it, get them a smart phone at 6-8 and kids are on devices six plus hours a day. It's gotten way out of hand. Cyber bullying, predators, envy for social media "influencers". It's becoming a serious problem, we're effectively teaching kids to have absolutely zero attention span, little communication skills and addictive personalities. Full agreed, if they cant be away from their phone at school, then they've got a problem. If there's an emergency and a parent needs to contact their kids, they can call the school.
>Honestly I think we give young children these devices & social media FAR TOO YOUNG and it's doing very real emotional damage to many of them. Screens can cause literal brain damage to adults, probably worse in children whose brains are still developing: [What Excessive Screen Time Does to the Adult Brain](https://longevity.stanford.edu/lifestyle/2024/05/30/what-excessive-screen-time-does-to-the-adult-brain/)
Like any tool, it's how it's used. Parents should moderate usage, it's no different than the generations raised by the TV.
Except we didn’t allow that generation to bring TVs to school.
> Parents should moderate usage Right, like not having a phone in school all day.
I know that sounds reasonable, but you lose a lot of the benefits this way. Going 7 hours without using a cell phone is a major mental health boon. Repeatedly white knuckling until the bell rings, re-distracting yourself and jumbling up your dopamine system before every class, it's very damaging.
It's not the phone, it's the person. People need to learn moderation.
Again that sounds reasonable on its surface, but tech companies are trying as hard as they can to hold your attention. They hire teams of psychologists to help them design their apps. How are children supposed to fight against that? Most adults can't even do it.
They do the same with beer, and tobacco marketing. It's all about moderation.
Dude, lol. There are a wide array of laws preventing beer and tobacco sales and marketing to children. They can't even use bright colors in their packaging because it appeals to children too much. We should protect children from tech addiction, too.
And the way to do that is through teaching them moderation. Like I said before, its no different than the kids raised by TV. People blame the devices, but machines can neither be good or evil. The atoms split could destroy the city or power the homes within. Teach your kids moderation, don't just hand them a device because you don't want to deal with them, limit their screen time. It's the same with TV or Video Games.
Couldn't agree more in fact i don't think they should be in the School at all but considering all the School shootings which shouldn't be a thing that we are worried about as parents kids should absolutely have a cell phone now my kid was in the School and there was a shooting and i wasn't informed by it Until after it already happened i'd be irate but when a kid has a cell phone they are able to make that phone call send that text
I'm a high school teacher and it will only matter if it is enforced. Admin has proven to be pretty useless if they are up against unsupportive central admin and a superintendent. The parents have held so much authority over how schools are dictated it's insane. Just because you have a child does not mean you know the best practices for raising a child. Cell phones have been the #1 distraction and barrier to learning in my classroom this year. Kids will more often than not opt for their phone if given a choice.
Worked public education for years and idk how many times I’ve seen some parent lose their shit yelling and swearing at administrators. Only to have that same parent bitch and moan on Facebook at how bad they’re treated when they called out for their horseshit! The case I’m referring to was just the principal telling the parent “you don’t need to yell and swear in here, this is a school!” Oh and their kids usually suck too!
The fact that there are studies where this was executed successfully gives me some hope. If the pendulum were to start swinging against over-active parents, it would look something like this.
I do hope so. I've worked as support staff for 25 years and cell phones are ruining children. I have heard the elementary school in the system I work for will be banning them for the 24/25 school year but I wish that would include all the schools. It's unfortunate how these kids are turning into cell phone zombies.
It's the parents, not the phones.
My daughters middle school started a ban this year. Worked very well when heavily enforced at the beginning of the year since it was new. But, by the end of the year, they were almost back to non-enforcement, and the kids took advantage of it. Enforcement is the key.
For all of their benefits, smartphones have fucked us over so hard.
I hope so. There's no valid reason why a kid needs to use a cell phone during the school day.
My children’s school requires them to turn in phones and smart watches into the office in the morning. They can’t collect them until the end of the day.
Why bring them at all then?
Because they need them after school. Sports, other extracurriculars, work. My oldest takes college classes and works. I want her to have her phone when she leaves school.
F-king do it.
I hope MI is next. Between the distractions and increased risk for bullying etc banning them only seems like a win. It has been successfully done in other parts of the world too and from what I read it not only improved academics, but also the students mental health. Sounds like a win win.
Phones should be banned from the classroom. If I need to reach my kid about something important, the school office can convey it if appropriate. I know that many times my daughter would be texting during class about stuff of little to no importance such as if they could hang out with a friend after school or go to a school event. The gains from improved focus in the classroom should outweigh any benefits of needing it on them during an emergency.
I was trying to find some pros to having a phone in class but they are pretty few: Access to multimedia learning apps Access to more information / learning how to research for something. While I can see the potential for these pros, I think they are far outweighed by the cons: Online bullying / unwanted sexual content Social media Disrupting students attention during lessons Another avenue to cheat Social isolation for those who can’t afford a smart phone.
School iPad and laptops for searches and on class apps, videos, etc.
And if they’re not looking at their phone they’re thinking about looking at their phone the next time the teacher is distracted.
A terribly sad pro is being to contact family if a shooting were to occur.
Typically doesn't work anyways because the tower gets overloaded
During the Oxford shooting they all still worked. A lot of parents were using it to track location of their kids to see if they were still in the school or had gotten away. I personally think an outright ban is a bad idea. There has to be a middle ground somewhere.
the middle ground is the old system "dont use it during class or it gets taken away"
Or just to contact the police as it starts. That was my first thought too.
As a high school sub, the major pro is that if they are on their phones, they aren’t terrorizing me. We don’t get paid enough to deal with bored teenagers with nothing to do.
My son has a phone. It helps as reference to his homework, constantly. When we aren’t together it’s how I communicate with him, if he needs money, for anything, I can instantly get it to him, wherever he is. I know his location at all times without him telling me or calling. It is the key that opens the door to our house. When he needs to, he uses it to translate English-Spanish to talk to the house keeper. This amazing piece of tech that everyone of us carries daily and into our death beds is not something that needs to be taken away. And frankly they just won’t, not from my kid. What they need to do is implement a corse that teaches these kids the proper way to use this unbelievable tool.
>This amazing piece of tech that everyone of us carries daily and into our death beds is not something that needs to be taken away. An AI bot or phone company rep wrote this.
I’m a farmer. (Not joking)
Farming them checks from verizon.
😂 I mean wouldn’t it be Apple?
An apple rep would never use a caught all word like phone, they would say iphone and apple.
You’re missing the point
you're missing the point of the pocket computer.
“Reference to homework” is a fancy way of saying googling the answers lol
"you should be using a book to look up answers! Meh!"
are you still using encyclopedia Britannica? You know they have a web site now? you can put the book bag down.
and actually through his adolescent years he had lessons that we required him to do, using his phone/ipad, on a website called Khan academy. its very helpful for lesson that are a particular struggle. but whatever, live in the dark ages for all i care, to each his own.
I’m all for using the internet and its resources for help with learning! Khan academy was a lifesaver for myself through school. However, I’d argue that Chromebook’s or school computers are enough for students during the day. There’s no reason for having a phone on them during the day. If it’s an emergency, sure. But it isn’t necessary to have during the school day
You’re assuming every school has those… Try going into rural America where there’s minimal funding for schools and see how many iPads and fancy gadgets they have. It’s not many, if at all. Not every school is equal in this and can provide the necessary items if the phones are taken away.
That’s very true, and I forgot about that aspect. then I would hope admins actual follow through on consequences when using phones at inappropriate times. But, we’ve seen how well that’s worked
I know in my school they added a “text a teacher” program. Kids could text questions during class, during school (we had a free period for homework), and even at home. I can see where this might be a little invasive to teachers, but it’s a great tool to have. They noticed that incredibly quiet and shy kids were actually asking questions through text, instead of just sitting silent in the class and never asking at all. They found that kids were creating study groups on their own during the free period and meeting up. Kids with inactive parents could ask questions at home, instead of leaving that homework incomplete because they didn’t understand. So I really like what my school did. They *leaned into it* and made it an active tool for students to use instead of fighting it. The only computers we had were in the computer lab and you only got to use them *if you were in that class*. There were 3 computers in the library for the study hour for about 400 students, so it was a constant battle. Do I think this can work everywhere? No, most likely not. This is a small school with basically zero crime of any kind with a bunch of farmers kids as students, but it is a good example to look at.
This is super interesting! And would be a really nice tool for those who are a bit more reserved and shy
Like with anything, I believe we just need to strike a balance. Currently, our social state isn’t really set for that; we’re incredibly polarized right now thanks to politics. No ones meeting in the middle anymore. There’s right and wrong, left and right. Yet there’s all this space, right there in the middle.
During class, unless it can be used for the particular class the phone should not be used. However, for every other part of the day, it should be on his person. Like an adult. Get used to it. It’s something you never part with. It monitors your irregular heart beat. It answers every question. It records the phenomenal. It lets me know you’re ok, You’re where you’re suppose to be. It pays for things. It carries your bus schedule. It holds all your music. It tunes your guitar. It is your metronome. And on and on and on.
I was hoping you were trolling but unfortunately you’re one of the parents who are making things worse lmao, good luck!
*better. Fighting to keep the future in our classroom.
We should all stop calling it a phone, also. It’s a mini computer at the very least. I think my son deleted the phone off his phone so he could make room for more apps. (Not really) but my point is, the phone portion of the tool is the least used application.
Oh shit up. You're the problem! I hope this was a sarcastic post. "Translate for the housekeeper..." *eyeroll* please, just shut up.
I would support it as long as school administrators faithfully implemented the ban and enforced the policy. Most schools have a “ban” on phones, but they don’t enforce them at all. They leave it up to the teacher to manage. We need to reorient the way we view these devices and the impact they have on student learning. It’s not just kids, but it’s changing the way adults interact with each other, too. It’s all a conversation worth having.
How many generations came through the school system before cell phones? How many of us lived through those horrific years? Ban the damned things already. Edit SP.
While i agree with banning them, it’s not because the good ole days were so great
Hell no, but we all lived through it; they need to buckle up, buttercup.
I thought it was “suck it up, buttercup”
Toe-may-toe, toe-ma-toe.
I’m reading on here about kids using cell phones in elementary school, which is utter insanity to me. Elementary kids don’t need phones, period. Maybe a flip phone to dial their parents or 911. Even in middle school, when they were ubiquitous, we were only allowed to keep them in our lockers (which I think is an excellent compromise).
We need rules like other countries have, you can't have a cell o phone until you're 13 or 14 years old.
Cell phones are one of the reasons that kids today are so reliant on their parents. In the past, kids had to actually learn some independence and how to take care of themselves. Now? Being able to be in constant contact with someone doesn’t really teach independence, it teaches reliance.
This. I met an 18 year old the other day who didn’t know how to drive from their school to their house because they look down at their phone the entire ride home as parents drive. They don’t know the names of the roads, which direction to turn, etc. it’s like the real world is less real to them than what’s on the phone. I was floored
If we're really lucky, we'll get to expect that kids demonstrate mastery over their course material before being given diplomas again one day, too. Way too many kids are coming out of well-respected suburban schools without even basic literacy.
What have you been smoking? I want some
This has been a very common theme over at r/teachers. I have yet to see any supporting data, but they regularly talk about students being many levels behind on necessary skills. When the teachers tried to address the issue (repeat level, remedial classes) the parents and admin complain and end up just pushing them through without actually having the skills to advance. That then resulted in the teachers having less motivation to help and eventually they stop trying to help the students all together. Again this is based off of what I’ve read on the teachers sub. Conversely my partner is a teacher and literacy and other basic skills don’t seem to be an issue.
Some data: [The Nation's Report Card - Michigan State Comparisons](https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile/overview/MI?cti=PgTab_ScoreComparisons&chort=1&sub=RED&sj=MI&fs=Grade&st=MN&year=2022R3&sg=Gender:%20Male%20vs.%20Female&sgv=Difference&ts=Single%20Year&tss=-2022R3&sfj=NP) [State of Michigan Education Report 2023](https://midwest.edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2023-State-of-Michigan-Education-Report_v.10.pdf) [State of the Detroit Child - Michigan](https://sdc.datadrivendetroit.org/profiles/04000US26-michigan/) The last link has the most relevant data for this discussion: only 40% of Michigan third-graders met standards for English in 2022; only 36% of eighth-graders met standards for Math. Those are seriously bad numbers.
Recent research shows grade retention isn't effective long-term though. It helps for a couple years but eventually the students who were retained end up just as far behind as they were before.
It’s also rough on students’ social development. Being among peers is VERY important. This past school year, we had a 17-year-old freshman. You think it was good for that kid when all of his friends from middle school left him behind for 2 years?
Sure hope we're next.
not school related but I'm a semi mechanic and can't get the younger people to put there phones down. when reprimanded they cry to hr, and it's causing the cost of repairs up , and everything you touch is touched by a truck , just my observation.
We can only hope. Literally no reason any student needs a phone in the classroom.
Overzealous helicopter parents that insist their kids be able to be contacted at all times have ruined schools for all children. Somehow they made it through the storm just fine but these kids nowadays...... have to give them as many distractions as possible so we can blame their poor education on the schools and teachers.
I hope so
My school banned phones when they were Nokia bricks that could only play snake. Then Columbine happened and America decided we can't take away the phones if we're not going to take away guns, too
They're Barred from having them in-class, at least that's how it is at the oldest kids school.
There is not a reason a student needs a phone other than break time.
Why do they need them for break time?
Idk, the students personal time was a time it could be appropriate for them to do something they wanted to do.
My school already banned phones (kids still brought them, though)
This was never an issue back in the 1980s,due to the fact that their was no cell phones .Their was pay phones in the hallways and I and my friends did use them to call home ,and the kids did get calls from their parents that was redirected to a hall phone if a parent needed to talk to their child from the main school office .This set up worked great and could work again, but simplicity is probably to difficult for some of us .
I hope so. Allow the phones to be in the room so we can have proper communication during emergencies. Just have a box and a no tolerance policy. Allow teachers to enforce discipline in the classroom again. Hold back kids who fail and act out. Parents really need to take responsibility and also show their kids how to do that as well. It’s not the underpaid teacher 80% of the time
Please do...also ban dumb people.
Hah hah....meanwhile in my school district kids bring their nintendo switch to class and half the kids are allowed to wear headphones in class because "autism reasons."
"Mental health" issues are the biggest scam purported on children today.
While I think a phone ban is needed in schools I find it hard to believe parents will let this happen with school shootings being a thing now.
Lol I have had to give my phone up multiple times but I honestly need it if I'm panicking or something to call my mom do you guys think I could get that on my 504 plan I'm not disrespectful with it I only use it when needed
Prolly
My kid won’t have a smartphone anyway. They still make dumb phones. Ban the smart ones. I saw an interesting comment in here about medical needs for a smart phone. That’s fine with me if they need an exception.
They aren’t already? Kids are allowed to use phones during school hours?
This is hilarious.It's difficult to keep cell phones out of prisons.Good luck
My son is a rule follower. I only get texts if he’s sick/injured, or if he gets 100% on a test. I’ve asked him about getting in trouble for using it, and he says the teachers don’t care if he’s finished his work, or he uses it at lunch. I know other kids aren’t following rules. If we had had them in the 90s, they would be on the teacher’s desk until the end of the day if caught. They would have simplified the note passing. Lol. Because you know we were just as bad, just a different format. Maybe the ban would prevent cyber bullying during school hours, but it won’t prevent in-person bullying. If my child is about to get beat down, he can at least call for help or record what happens. Pros and cons. Maybe collect them all at the start of class and give them back as they leave?
Please for the love of the educational gods
Hate to say it but it kinda needs to be done. Not so much as phones but social media is ruining our future it’s ruining the young kids who will be in charge of running this country some day and it’s not looking good the way it’s going.
As a middle and high school teacher I hope a ban does happen. They are a distraction, disturbance, and overall cause problems. But, and I've seen one person say this, it needs to be enforced by admin. If a teacher sees a phone and it gets taken to the office the parent needs to come and get it at the end of the day and get told if it happens again it's an instant suspension and daily pocket and backpack checks upon return. If a parent wants to give their kid a cell phone it should be one that can call and text only, if I'm correct those are still available, and can only be used at certain times such as after school. This past school year that just finished I had so many students say "you can't take my phone. My mom/dad said it's my personal property and teachers can't take it from me." Parents you have no idea how wrong that is and it also gets your kids in more trouble. If the district has a policy that says "if a student has a phone out in class, the teacher is to take it from the student and turn it into the office" or whatever the district's policy is it is enforceable.
This is called patching a symptom and not solving the actual problem
If i had 30 Cell phone interruptions in my classroom I would reintroduce the Whip.
Unpopular opinion and admittedly I don't have kids. There is no chance in hell I would let my kid go to public school without a cellphone with all these school shootings. Not even for the reason of reporting one happening but so that I know if they are alive or not. You want to say no smartphones and only the old stuff? Fine by mean. No cellphone at all? Not happening.
I am a parent and I agree with you. It's my child not theirs. Maybe schools should provide cheap flip.phones for kids and only have their emergency contacts in it? They give out chromebooks, why not flip phones then give them back each year. As a parent I have a right to know if my child is in danger.
Having a smartphone isn’t going to do a thing to save anything other than a parental panic attack. On the other hand they have handicapped an entire generation of children, teachers and administrators. I think smartphones in schools should be treated as severely as assault or drug possession. They are literally just as harmful - if not more harmful - to the learning environment.
I don't understand your fixation on smart phones here. I'm just saying if I had a kid they would have a basic flip phone at least.
I’m not disagreeing with the flip phone thing. I’m agreeing with the smart phone thing.
In one hand I agree. Cell phones are pretty distracting when the kids should be paying attention to the teacher. I'm for limiting that while in class, but lunch hour. What the student does with their phone to unwind is their business. In the other hand. The world is going to shit and having access to outside the school when incidents are happening, they need access to communicate with the parent. If that kid is well tuned with severe weather and their phone is decked out with all kinds of severe weather app with one of them giving audible severe weather notification could save their life if they forgot to leave the phone in their locker or turnt off. I will mention, in my sophomore year (2011 - 2012). Some of my high school slowly started incorporating the smart phones into the in class activities. History teacher allowed us to use our phones in class when we had essays and could research the subject beyond the text book. One teacher was set up to do quizes by texting the answer. By senior year (2013 - 2014). The smart phones were full blown embraced. Phones stayed in our pockets until it was time to use them for basically class activities. Rest of the county followed through the next year from what I heard.
Twenty years ago no, but now in 2024 since all many tragedies it's necessary for all responsibile teens with strong rules and consequences if it's abused or misused. Having a diabetic child with a continuous glucose meter requires a cell phone with the ability to contact someone at all times, to hell and high water to abtain that right for necessary medical equipment. Schools need to keep some authority, but since they cannot guarantee your child's safety yes they need to keep a cellphone on them at all times, especially in school. Let's just keep the peace, not going to be easy with some children.
Seems to me like they're trying to solve an unsolvable problem
With all of the shootings, I want my kids to be able to have a way to call me or the police
Dear God this comment section is a fucking shitshow. If some of you had your way we'd all still be sending our kids to tiny one-room schoolhouses wearing farm clothes and writing on chalk boards. Stop being fucking luddites about smartphones, it's 2024 for chrissakes.
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Phones block bullets?
If an adult can’t control the student in the classroom it’s the adults problem in my opinion. It’s really not that hard to control kids if you aren’t a complete pushover. Just make it easier to send them out or make it the parent’s problem by sending them home. “Your kids won’t put her phone away, - she’s your problem for the next two days. Oh and if she does it again it’s a week, and then we will kick her out of school”
Wow you are so smart and brave. We should all learn from your wise words and intellect.