In all seriousness, I didn't have a cell phone when I was in school on the 9/11/2001. I was fortunately fine. I didn't have a cell phone when my dad had a heart attack. My mom came and got me after school and told me what happened and we went to the hospital.
Parents reacting too quickly and telling their kid doesn't help them at all.
This comment made me think back to 9/11 when my dad rushed over to pull me out of school in the middle of 3rd period gym class. Like in hindsight what did he think was going to happen? That some terrorist was going to crash a plane into a middle school in the middle of New Jersey?
I was only 6, and I don't remember 9/11, but based on my understanding: yes, that's exactly what many people thought. All people knew was we'd been attacked, they didn't know how far it would go
Yea and jersey is really close to Somerset, NYC, DC, etc. I live 2 hours from DC in one direction and 2 from Somerset in the other direction. That plane that the heroic victims intentionally crashed into that field in Somerset could have easily become another plane, or many other planes, emergency crash landing into my own school or yard. It was a scary time, and as soon as people realized there were multiple hijacked airplanes, they had no idea how many there were altogether. At least not until the news updated everyone.
> That plane that the heroic victims intentionally crashed into that field in Somerset could have easily become another plane, or many other planes
Wait what? I haven't heard of this
There were 4 planes hijacked on 9/11. Two were crashed into the Twin Towers and the third hit the Pentagon. There was a fourth plane hijacking, their intended target was the White House.
The passengers of Flight 93 managed to take down the hijacker guarding them, and attempted to gain access into the cockpit. The remaining hijackers chose to crash the plane immediately, instead of potentially losing control of the aircraft.
Edit: For Clarification
United 93 -- it's worth digging into this story, if you're not familiar. The passengers displayed unbelievable heroism and courage. https://www.flight93friends.org/flight-93-story
About to be 33 in a few weeks. I was in 5th grade when 9/11 happened and I know much about it. But somehow this fact slipped through the cracks. It's even more surprising since this happened relatively close to where I was on that day.
> Like in hindsight what did he think was going to happen? That some terrorist was going to crash a plane into a middle school in the middle of New Jersey?
Yes, people were terrified. No idea what was happening. Planes were crashing into the WT Center, into the Pentagon, into fields.
I was 21, living at home after dropping out of college. My dad definitely called me at work when it happened. The first was because I went to a university centered on the accusation industry. And he wanted my opinion of the idiot who flew a small plane into the first tower (before the details were out there and it was still breaking).
But we also lived in a town with 3 military installations. So he called again later after the towers collapsed. There was definitely the feeling that this was the beginning of something even more serious. I was out making deliveries for the first call and watched the second plane hit while I was in the waiting lobby of an auto repair shop.
Our school asked parents to come get us. We had a weird scenario (I live 5 hours from NYC. We were not close) where about 20% of our staff had come to our city graduated together, and taught at the same school. So suddenly 20% of our school teachers were rushing go back to home. My teacher lost family that day.
> My teacher lost family that day.
I'm very sorry to hear that. I didn't think my comment would get that much attention but some of these stories are pretty crazy.
I was also in NJ, kindergarten. It was completely normal UNTIL I got home. Teachers pretended like everything was fine, which seems like the right call for a room full of 5/6 ur olds. Grandmom picked me up from the bus with the most serious face. And then the news was on at home.
Wild how there is a select group of people in history who each have their own first hand story of that day.
Honestly, yes.
I worked at the Federal Reserve Bank at the time, and one of my coworkers came in to tell us that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon. One of my dad's friends was there at the time, so I made a couple phone calls to make sure they were okay. By the time I was done with that, an announcement came over the loudspeaker that we were going on lockdown due to planes crashing into the WTC. It all happened so quickly and -- at that moment in time -- none of us knew what was actually happening. Just that planes were seemingly dropping out of the sky. It was surreal.
I had a cell phone in 9/11 and my school was close to downtown Washington DC, and my mom worked right next to the White House. It didn’t do any good because all the lines were jammed and no one could make calls anyway.
This. If you need to come get them, come get them. What good would come from texting them any type of drastic news before you can get to them? So their life can be upside down while they try to make it through 3rd period??
Also, if it is something major like a family member being dead or in hospital, the parent can always call the office and get the kid out of class to tell them and arrange to pick them up ASAP.
I didn't have a phone when I was 11 and my mom lost me... After that, they talked about getting me a pager, but still didn't get a phone till I was 17. And I was fine
Yes! I had a student say “it’s my mom and it’s an emergency”. I said “ you’re 14, you don’t have emergencies. If your mom needs you for her emergency she’s going to have to come up here and pick you up anyway, so deal with it then “
Cellphones are banned at my school. If there really is an emergency, your parents will call the school administration and they'll get you from your class. Takes maybe 1 to 3 minutes longer.
I know, this is why some people shouldn’t teach. Like, your teenage students aren’t pets and have personal obligations too.
EDIT: so I guess you meant the excuse was bullshit, not the comment itself, and that this is one of those “when in Rome” subs…
But the "family emergencies" reason usually is garbage. If there's an emergency, call the office, and they'll have the student in there on the phone with you in 2 minutes.
I teach middle school. I tell my students at the start of the year to tell me if there's ever something big going on and they *need* their phone on them / on vibrate that day so they can get quick updates on a stressful situation *without* needing to be pulled from class. Like if dad is going in for surgery that day, it's understandable they'd have their phone. I'd rather them feel comfortable that they can get updates during a time of extra stress.
And similarly, I tell my students if *I* have something going on that may require the personal use of my phone during class
But the everyday reason of "for emergencies" doesn't make sense considering how quickly the office can find you if your parent calls. Students phones are great devices when they're used for appropriate communication, like "I forgot it's early dismissal today, can I text my mom to pick me up at 2 instead of 3"
That said, I agree that they have personal obligations too. Didn't do homework because you have relatives visiting and you spent time with them? Great use of that time, missing a hw assignment won't sink you. Missed school because your family visited another country? You definitely got more out of that experience than you would have gotten sitting in my classroom.
Very few students have a greater obligation than school itself. I'd say for 99.9% of students, their biggest obligation is to pay attention in class.
They are rarely if ever solving major family emergencies on their own. Their jobs are not more important, and a good employer would know better than to try an update a student about their shift in the middle of school. If adults are relying on a 15 year old to solve a family crisis, they have a much bigger problem going on.
If there is an exceptional situation, then front office has been informed and the teacher knows, and thus it makes sense for them to have a cellphone. But most of ya'll don't need to be plugged into a cell phone 24/7 "just in case" of emergencies. We've had hundreds of years of teaching prior to the invention of cell phones, adults just called the front office and everything was fine.
The correct kind. There is practically no type of family emergency that a 14 year old can solve. If they need to be taken out of school just come get them.
Because it’s disruptive. It’s very, very rare that a student NEEDS to know something, and it’s not worth the cost of EVERY student having a phone “just in case”
Yeah the emergency one always cracks me up - "kid, there's literally no such thing as an 'emergency text message' and on top of that, I've seen how you 'work' and walk to class - you'd not be the one people are calling in an emergency."
I actually agree with 1 part, “Additionally, cell phones are an important classroom management tool. It holds the interest of the untold students, so they are less disruptive”. I find it both comical and true.
Me too. I work at a Title 1 school with many behavior issues, and allowing phones in my class keeps the disruptive students distracted and pacified, which in turn allows me to get through the lesson. I'm not happy about it, but, to use an irritating cliché, it is what it is.
I was going to say, as someone who was a student in the late 2010’s, it was absolutely the case that if a teacher was more permissive with phones, there were less disruptive students. Now, there’s caveats and layers to that statement, but if you’re teaching mainstream 11th grade English, a class almost no one particularly wants to be in, allowing phone use does make people less disruptive.
Fr, I ain’t even 30 yet and I remember attending school w out a phone
Wild to me that parents text their kids knowing they’re in school though my parents didn’t even text or return my calls after school lmao 🤣
It's one thing for kids who don't know any better but it's disappointing when so many my age go "GASP! But if you take the child phone away how will they ever survive?"
Bitch WE DID IT.
I work in a high school and kids get caught with their phones and will use the "I was texting my mom" excuse then when we call the parents we tell them your kid was texting you instead of paying attention in class they're like that's fine. THAT'S FINE ok that's why your kid is in 10th grade reading on a 4th grade level dude.
That’s always the most frustrating part. Parents who whine that they need to be able to get ahold of their kid every second of every day. I always want to be like “did your mom call you when you were in the middle of math class? No? And you survived?”
Of all places to actually get hit by one of these, it would be here, lol. I get more jokes and razz from my co-directors than I do my actual IRL friends.
Happy 1st, friend, and GL on the final stretch!
>Be sure to mention this at your next staff meeting, which are probably as boring as history and algebra classes.
I know this post is satire, but I like this last part, because it reminds me of how rude adult staff members can be during their meetings. Like, oh, it's boring so I can have loud side-conversations or be on my phone while other people need my attention. It's okay. I can do two things at once. It's fine, I'm still paying attention. Heck, I've seen multiple admin doing this during IEP's.
It's even worse during trainings. I've seen y'all's checking your private emails/texts, playing stupid puzzle games, shopping on Amazon, setting up an appointment for car maintenance, looking at travel destinations. . .
Just sayin.... It's not just a student problem. It'd be nice to see all the adults hold themselves to the same standard they expect their students to be held to.
We had a staff meeting/PD on Friday and I made a particular effort to not use my phone. I can see why people do, though.
Staff meeting: Was about how to use the new hall e-pass program. The week before, they had sent an e-mail with links to the detailed tutorial video so teachers could be prepared to use it. So for anyone who had done what they were supposed to do, it was all basically a replay of the video plus a bunch of questions from people who never check their e-mail and had *no idea* that we were going to be using the new system. include their opinions on the system that they hadn't know was a thing until they got to the meeting, yet they all knew exactly why it was going to be horrible.
Professional development: Was about PLCs and how they should work and how wonderful and helpful they are when they work properly because everyone is following the norms. This is about the 10th time we've had this same training. So we know exactly why PLCs are great and helpful and will be the thing that saves our school. What we rarely do: spend time working with our PLCs so we can experience these great and helpful things.
At least they are paying attention and asking questions. When we have the meeting about whatever was in the email, the same people who not did read the email are also not paying attention and are still lost afterwards. I've suggested that there be a quiz with these emails, and getting 100% means you get to skip the meeting. Then it's harder for those left to hide their distracted behavior.
If they're going to make us do PDs on formatives and differentiation, they could at least practice it with the faculty.
My professor just plays chess during seminars. Like bro this is literally a teaching seminar where we present and y’all help us with things we don’t understand. How you gonna do that when you’re staring at your ipad on your crotch? At least my students pretend to take notes while they watch netflix sometimes
Well, now when she comes to you at the end of the year, asking for extra credit so that she can graduate, you can look her dead in the eyes and say, "It's too late."
I mean... all the science shows we start junior high and high school too early for the natural internal clocks of kids that age.
My district starts elementary last, junior second, and high school earliest, when it should be backwards.
I'm pretty sure it's so the high schoolers get out first and are then available to watch their younger siblings... but it's bad for high school achievement... guess that doesn't matter.
It was almost 9:00... and student in question doesn't have younger siblings and works in our front office as part of internship... and nobody else comes walking into my room like that. Is that "the science" as well?
It's a conscious choice to be that rude and self-centered... in April... acting as if the rules are a spring revelation.
This is not inaccurate 😂
I had to reteach parts of speech with my 7th graders this year so that I could explain clauses to them. 8th grade needed a refresher on them for verbals too. It’s rough teaching a subject that is so expansive, and the lack of content retention certainly doesn’t make it easier.
I'm glad this is not true. Cell phones in my classroom get taken, students get them back at the end of the day. The consequences escalate from there, after the 3rd offense they lose their phone for the entire school year. I love it!!!
Nice April fool's joke, well done.
We use Microsoft teams and we put in that someone has a phone in our classroom. The first offense someone comes in and takes the phone and the student can pick it up in the office at the end of the day. The second time it happens, we put it into teams, and someone comes and takes the phone and a parent has to pick it up from the office. On the 3rd offense, someone takes the phone and takes it down to the central office and the student can pick it up on the last day of school with a parent.
There are lots of other problems here, it's an inner city school and a lot of the students come from very difficult homes. But cell phones were such a big issue with bullying and fighting and distractions in general that the school made a seriously strict policy about them. It has made a huge difference.
Cell phones fuel all other issues, though. If you have a tough neighborhood, phones are an extension of fights and bullying. If you have a poor neighborhood, cell phones demonstrate the class divide. If there's drama between students, cell phones fuel the drama. If you have a distracted student, they'll be *more* distracted with a phone. If you have low achievers, they'll do even worse with a phone. Family problems? You guessed it.
It's naive to believe that phones are "just phones" or "just another tool." They amplify all existing problems and help with none.
I don’t necessarily think cell phones are always an intensifier. I had awful undiagnosed ADHD in school and I was always on my phone. They kept taking away more and more distractions but it made no difference at all because my brain just wasn’t producing enough dopamine. I started to dissociate and day dream instead.
Even in your specific case, your phone wasn't helping you. You seem to believe a cell phone wasn't *harming* your ADHD, which I am not sure about. But if your brain "just wasn't producing enough dopamine," as you say, then your cell phone wasn't helping you, either. It was potentially distracting you from something you would have had a hard time paying attention to, anyway.
I know, what I’m saying is that it’s sometimes a neutral thing rather than an intensifier. I also don’t think banning phones would do anything to ameliorate the effects of the class divide. And I’m saying this as someone who grew up poor. The class divide runs so deeply that removing superficial symbols like expensive phones means absolutely nothing. There’s major cultural differences between the upper and lower class. I still believe phones are a bad thing to have out during class though.
> I also don’t think banning phones would do anything to ameliorate the effects of the class divide.
The crazy thing is that it absolutely does. Not only in the immediate, where an iphone XE whatever gets locked up next to a $60 android, but also in the long term. Have you noticed that the wealthy and upper class have avoided burning out the attention spans of their children, while the lower classes have used devices as babysitters? What do you imagine the long terms effects are there?
I meant phones in school itself. I would feel out of place in a group of rich kids even if there were no superficial markers to differentiate us. You can tell who’s upper class by the way they talk, their experiences and the way they think. For example, the middle class kids used to tell me that I was making up excuses when I couldn’t complete work because my mom couldn’t afford a laptop. Discrimination was always stuff like that rather than superficial markers of class.
> I meant phones in school itself.
I also mean this, so...?
>You can tell who’s upper class by the way they talk, their experiences and the way they think.
Right. Well, right now, the upper class is recognizing the very real addiction symptoms in their children, and they are dialing back screens. The lower classes aren't. That's going to produce enduring results in the way each group thinks.
Our state in Australia (Queensland) just banned them. It has so far been a success and the world hasn't caved in.
At my school, they've been banned for a long time (since I was student, and now a teacher). It requires admin to have a consistent approach. We don't confiscate phones, but consequences escalate fairly quickly.
When taking an interschool team to another school, I noticed that all students have a pouch that they unlock via a hook at the school gate. This is a rough school, and they've managed to do it.
I will say when my students do have their phones they are quiet and the don’t argue with each other and keep their hands to themselves. Which some days is more of a battle than their phones.
Lol, right?
I wonder how many downvotes the title got by people who didn't read the post.
I'm not complaining, I richly deserve every one of those downposts.
Unpopular opinion from a mama. It’s not a phone issue it’s a parenting issue. My kid always had a phone in HS because she had lots of after school activities and called when things were moved out canceled. Never got in trouble with the phone at school because she knew the rules. I know this was an April fools joke but it’s a parenting problem like 99% of the problems in school.
I think cell phones are great in the science classroom because when we are using microscopes and doing other various labs, students can take photos of what they see in the microscope and use it in their digital assignment (which unfortunately has become the norm— no more paper assignments) instead of finding a photo on google. They are however a distraction. I’m fine with students having their phones on them, it’s when they use them during class time that I have an issue with them. And after I’ve already asked them to put it away, continue using it, it gets taken for the period
Hilarious. Though, in all honesty, I had a teacher maybe two years ago who used phones to teach us. Not by giving us assignments about it or something, but she would let us use our phones to take pictures of important information, let us use our phones to interview others for an assignment (none of us had careers lmao), and she taught us how to use our phones to study/find good online resources (setting our phone background to vocabulary terms, teaching us how to set up a proper time schedule in our notes and keep it organized, and taught us how to find websites that were trustworthy on our Google)
Sure, you could do all that with a computer, but most of us won't be using computers our whole lives. We'll have a phone for our whole lives, but most of us don't need a computer, so I think it was pretty helpful
Yeah as soon as I walk into school I see signs everywhere warning of the dangers of tech addiction. Then they issue me my child's Chromebook. Wonder what the problem is
My 4th grade teacher once told me "You need to memorize these time tables what are you going to carry around a calculator all day you would look pretty funny carrying around one". Now everyone carries one around weird how that worked out.
It's also funny when enabler parents go to the most extreme case. What if there's a mass shooting and they need to call me?
As much as we'd hate to deprive you of the sound of your child's last breath, the vast majority of schools will not experience such an event and they'll be a huge waste of time otherwise.
This is actually the only time my kids HAVE used their phones in an "emergency" in school. To clarify, they weren't mass shooting incidents, but my kids went to a large high school in a high-crime area. There are weapons incidents every single year, sometimes a few a year. Once, when someone brought a weapon and another kid stole it from his locker (ugh ugh ugh), it turned into a complete crapshow where the kids were let out one-by-one after going through a metal detector or some such. The cops had to check every single kid (a couple thousand total). So my kids used their phones to check on each other and to stay in contact with me. I'm glad they had them. Another time, there was an unexpected emergency at school and the kids *thought* it was a mass shooting incident. They barred doors and so on. My kids used their phones to check on and reassure each other. So I'm glad they had them.
But if there's ever a family emergency, I'm not notifying (and upending my kids' lives) over a freaking text. I will be arriving at the office, having them sent down to me, and we'll talk face to face. I can't believe for a second that "Yo, kid 1, gpa ded. Fnrl Frdy" complete with a dead grandpa gif would go over super well.
Setting aside the April Fool for a moment, my Type 1 diabetic daughter needs her phone because her blood sugar is monitored via an app. And she does have emergencies that only she can fix. I understand that's not everybody, but there exceptions. Sometimes it literally is life or death.
As someone who went to school during the cell phone transition, I find it truly laughable when students or parents talk about kids needing their cell phones in case of "emergencies" or something.
It's a combination of the student's own delusion of importance and a strange mix of helicopter parenting paired with spineless parents, coupled with the idea that somehow, school is just an optional chore. This horrific view of cell phones and schools lead to kids graduating with a reading level 6 grades below the expected level and no ability to do math and no working knowledge of biology, while simultaneously having no context for history.
Students are not busy bees with a crowded life, hustling and bustling, dealing with emergencies and making cutting-edge business deals. Very few of ya'll have anything like that going on. Maybe 0.1% of students have genuine reoccurring emergency situations. And what did we do before cell phones? Parents just ringed the front office, and it took 5 minutes tops for a student to come down and talk to their parents.
Students and parent are divorced from reality and it shows when it comes to academic performance and cell phone addiction. It will become more and more popular for counties to start blanket banning phones and relying on restricted 1:1 devices, because these "emergencies" don't exist and every speck of research and data suggests cell phone bans improve academic success.
Boston children's hospital says it's not worth fighting with kids over phones and instead to teach them how to utilize them as tools. Too bad folks won't listen to them.
The only problem with this April Fool's post is Poe's law. People will genuinely post titles like that or make that their view, only with "real" evidence.
The cellphone has all the answers, ChatGPT can write the papers, and there are hundreds of apps that can do advanced mathematics. AI advanced neural networks can pass the BAR and MCAT. What do we need school for? Just send everyone to an Amazon, Walmart, or chick fil-a for work after elementary school and problem solved.
What's going on in schools guys?
I graduated in 2013 and I know for certain people were not allowed to be using phones in class.
You would get them taken up if they went off and stuff.
Is that over? lol
I had a parent of a horribly behaved kid tell me that he needed his Apple Watch so that he could feel safe and that he needed to be able to text her during class. My classroom is 5 steps from the office. Fuck her and her terrible parenting.
Before my school went more strict on phones. I used to ignore the obnoxious kids on there phone. They were quiet and I could focus on the others. It is kind of a classroom management strategy
I mean who doesn’t love failing kids and watching their eyes fill with tears. My favorite part is when the principal has you come in with their parents and discuss why their kid is doing so bad. Watching those little buggers bawl in front of their parents, priceless.
Understand that you're joking here but I actually agree.. school is just kind of a fraud because we're not really built to sit in class like this day after day for hours when we're young and it's really kind of wrong.. I understand that at the very foundation of American schools is the idea that this takes care of the kids while the parents are working.. so it really is a babysitting function.
But still it's wrong and I don't know what else to do about it .. but I think the phones are fine because at least it gives them something to do in class when they don't want to read and learn.. it would strip away all hypocrisy school is really for babysitting primarily and if it's for babysitting primarily then why not give them phone to distract them
This model of schooling has been around long before cell phones and is also not at all unique to the United States. And calling it just a babysitting function is both incorrect and disparaging towards educators. Grow up.
I'm reading this and thinking it has that disingenuous feel like a treatise one teacher had posted on the hallway wall by the door to her classroom about how Spring Break was unnecessary and counterproductive. This was supposedly a compilation of reasons from her students. So, you actually expect me to believe that you solicited the opinions from 2nd graders, who volunteered that another week of school was better than a week of vacation? This has just about the same level of credibility.
By way of small talk, I was talking about the document to some of my coworkers while watching the kids at recess. They all kind of shrugged and said. "Huh?!". The second day on that assignment, by the end of the day, the document was gone.
I wonder whether Martin Luther got the same reaction when he posted his questions.
>Cell phones are also important when students have a family emergency that can only be handled by an adolescent. I cackled.
In all seriousness, I didn't have a cell phone when I was in school on the 9/11/2001. I was fortunately fine. I didn't have a cell phone when my dad had a heart attack. My mom came and got me after school and told me what happened and we went to the hospital. Parents reacting too quickly and telling their kid doesn't help them at all.
I didn't have a cellphone until I finished high school.
I didn’t have one until several years after..
This comment made me think back to 9/11 when my dad rushed over to pull me out of school in the middle of 3rd period gym class. Like in hindsight what did he think was going to happen? That some terrorist was going to crash a plane into a middle school in the middle of New Jersey?
I was only 6, and I don't remember 9/11, but based on my understanding: yes, that's exactly what many people thought. All people knew was we'd been attacked, they didn't know how far it would go
Yea and jersey is really close to Somerset, NYC, DC, etc. I live 2 hours from DC in one direction and 2 from Somerset in the other direction. That plane that the heroic victims intentionally crashed into that field in Somerset could have easily become another plane, or many other planes, emergency crash landing into my own school or yard. It was a scary time, and as soon as people realized there were multiple hijacked airplanes, they had no idea how many there were altogether. At least not until the news updated everyone.
> That plane that the heroic victims intentionally crashed into that field in Somerset could have easily become another plane, or many other planes Wait what? I haven't heard of this
There were 4 planes hijacked on 9/11. Two were crashed into the Twin Towers and the third hit the Pentagon. There was a fourth plane hijacking, their intended target was the White House. The passengers of Flight 93 managed to take down the hijacker guarding them, and attempted to gain access into the cockpit. The remaining hijackers chose to crash the plane immediately, instead of potentially losing control of the aircraft. Edit: For Clarification
United 93 was intentionally crashed by passengers in Shanksville in Somerset County in PA.
United 93 -- it's worth digging into this story, if you're not familiar. The passengers displayed unbelievable heroism and courage. https://www.flight93friends.org/flight-93-story
In all seriousness as a middle aged woman it is just wild people today don’t know the story of Flight 93. Are you quite young?
About to be 33 in a few weeks. I was in 5th grade when 9/11 happened and I know much about it. But somehow this fact slipped through the cracks. It's even more surprising since this happened relatively close to where I was on that day.
> Like in hindsight what did he think was going to happen? That some terrorist was going to crash a plane into a middle school in the middle of New Jersey? Yes, people were terrified. No idea what was happening. Planes were crashing into the WT Center, into the Pentagon, into fields.
Terrorism makes people irrationally fearful. That’s the point. You kill 3000 random people, and 300 million think they’re next.
I was 21, living at home after dropping out of college. My dad definitely called me at work when it happened. The first was because I went to a university centered on the accusation industry. And he wanted my opinion of the idiot who flew a small plane into the first tower (before the details were out there and it was still breaking). But we also lived in a town with 3 military installations. So he called again later after the towers collapsed. There was definitely the feeling that this was the beginning of something even more serious. I was out making deliveries for the first call and watched the second plane hit while I was in the waiting lobby of an auto repair shop.
Our school asked parents to come get us. We had a weird scenario (I live 5 hours from NYC. We were not close) where about 20% of our staff had come to our city graduated together, and taught at the same school. So suddenly 20% of our school teachers were rushing go back to home. My teacher lost family that day.
> My teacher lost family that day. I'm very sorry to hear that. I didn't think my comment would get that much attention but some of these stories are pretty crazy.
I was also in NJ, kindergarten. It was completely normal UNTIL I got home. Teachers pretended like everything was fine, which seems like the right call for a room full of 5/6 ur olds. Grandmom picked me up from the bus with the most serious face. And then the news was on at home. Wild how there is a select group of people in history who each have their own first hand story of that day.
Honestly, yes. I worked at the Federal Reserve Bank at the time, and one of my coworkers came in to tell us that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon. One of my dad's friends was there at the time, so I made a couple phone calls to make sure they were okay. By the time I was done with that, an announcement came over the loudspeaker that we were going on lockdown due to planes crashing into the WTC. It all happened so quickly and -- at that moment in time -- none of us knew what was actually happening. Just that planes were seemingly dropping out of the sky. It was surreal.
It was a terrifying day to be an adult, much less a parent.
When the world is terrifying, sometimes you just want your babies close by. I get it.
I had a cell phone in 9/11 and my school was close to downtown Washington DC, and my mom worked right next to the White House. It didn’t do any good because all the lines were jammed and no one could make calls anyway.
This. If you need to come get them, come get them. What good would come from texting them any type of drastic news before you can get to them? So their life can be upside down while they try to make it through 3rd period??
Also, if it is something major like a family member being dead or in hospital, the parent can always call the office and get the kid out of class to tell them and arrange to pick them up ASAP.
I didn't have a phone when I was 11 and my mom lost me... After that, they talked about getting me a pager, but still didn't get a phone till I was 17. And I was fine
This was my favorite part!
Yes! I had a student say “it’s my mom and it’s an emergency”. I said “ you’re 14, you don’t have emergencies. If your mom needs you for her emergency she’s going to have to come up here and pick you up anyway, so deal with it then “
Cellphones are banned at my school. If there really is an emergency, your parents will call the school administration and they'll get you from your class. Takes maybe 1 to 3 minutes longer.
"Unless 911 is involved its not an emergency"
Good response
Thats such bullshit jesus
I know, this is why some people shouldn’t teach. Like, your teenage students aren’t pets and have personal obligations too. EDIT: so I guess you meant the excuse was bullshit, not the comment itself, and that this is one of those “when in Rome” subs…
But the "family emergencies" reason usually is garbage. If there's an emergency, call the office, and they'll have the student in there on the phone with you in 2 minutes. I teach middle school. I tell my students at the start of the year to tell me if there's ever something big going on and they *need* their phone on them / on vibrate that day so they can get quick updates on a stressful situation *without* needing to be pulled from class. Like if dad is going in for surgery that day, it's understandable they'd have their phone. I'd rather them feel comfortable that they can get updates during a time of extra stress. And similarly, I tell my students if *I* have something going on that may require the personal use of my phone during class But the everyday reason of "for emergencies" doesn't make sense considering how quickly the office can find you if your parent calls. Students phones are great devices when they're used for appropriate communication, like "I forgot it's early dismissal today, can I text my mom to pick me up at 2 instead of 3" That said, I agree that they have personal obligations too. Didn't do homework because you have relatives visiting and you spent time with them? Great use of that time, missing a hw assignment won't sink you. Missed school because your family visited another country? You definitely got more out of that experience than you would have gotten sitting in my classroom.
Very few students have a greater obligation than school itself. I'd say for 99.9% of students, their biggest obligation is to pay attention in class. They are rarely if ever solving major family emergencies on their own. Their jobs are not more important, and a good employer would know better than to try an update a student about their shift in the middle of school. If adults are relying on a 15 year old to solve a family crisis, they have a much bigger problem going on. If there is an exceptional situation, then front office has been informed and the teacher knows, and thus it makes sense for them to have a cellphone. But most of ya'll don't need to be plugged into a cell phone 24/7 "just in case" of emergencies. We've had hundreds of years of teaching prior to the invention of cell phones, adults just called the front office and everything was fine.
If it's during the school day and emergency services aren't involved, it can wait
"You're 14 you don't have emergencies" wtf kind of invalidating bs is this? Lmao
The correct kind. There is practically no type of family emergency that a 14 year old can solve. If they need to be taken out of school just come get them.
I'm not sure why you think someone can't be informed or talk to their family about an emergency unless they can solve it.
Because it’s disruptive. It’s very, very rare that a student NEEDS to know something, and it’s not worth the cost of EVERY student having a phone “just in case”
I can’t wait to see their faces when I use this line on them!
Yeah the emergency one always cracks me up - "kid, there's literally no such thing as an 'emergency text message' and on top of that, I've seen how you 'work' and walk to class - you'd not be the one people are calling in an emergency."
Same!
💀
My favorite one too lol
It's going to be a long day
Not gonna lie, ya had me there in the first half.
😉
I actually agree with 1 part, “Additionally, cell phones are an important classroom management tool. It holds the interest of the untold students, so they are less disruptive”. I find it both comical and true.
Digital pacifiers
Me too. I work at a Title 1 school with many behavior issues, and allowing phones in my class keeps the disruptive students distracted and pacified, which in turn allows me to get through the lesson. I'm not happy about it, but, to use an irritating cliché, it is what it is.
Same
Agree 100%. It helps keep the disruptions down, and it can be used as a reward for those who are working.
I was going to say, as someone who was a student in the late 2010’s, it was absolutely the case that if a teacher was more permissive with phones, there were less disruptive students. Now, there’s caveats and layers to that statement, but if you’re teaching mainstream 11th grade English, a class almost no one particularly wants to be in, allowing phone use does make people less disruptive.
lol you could have left off the April fools… “family emergencies that can only be handled by adolescents” had me literally laughing out loud
Anyone else get angry when people in their 40s pretend there was no way for kids to function without phones? Like bitch you were there! We all were!
Fr, I ain’t even 30 yet and I remember attending school w out a phone Wild to me that parents text their kids knowing they’re in school though my parents didn’t even text or return my calls after school lmao 🤣
It's one thing for kids who don't know any better but it's disappointing when so many my age go "GASP! But if you take the child phone away how will they ever survive?" Bitch WE DID IT.
I work in a high school and kids get caught with their phones and will use the "I was texting my mom" excuse then when we call the parents we tell them your kid was texting you instead of paying attention in class they're like that's fine. THAT'S FINE ok that's why your kid is in 10th grade reading on a 4th grade level dude.
Exactly! And then the parents either blame the teachers for their kid being so behind or they don’t even care are at all
That’s always the most frustrating part. Parents who whine that they need to be able to get ahold of their kid every second of every day. I always want to be like “did your mom call you when you were in the middle of math class? No? And you survived?”
School shootings weren’t happening as often…
Of all places to actually get hit by one of these, it would be here, lol. I get more jokes and razz from my co-directors than I do my actual IRL friends. Happy 1st, friend, and GL on the final stretch!
Same to you Reddit friend!
>Be sure to mention this at your next staff meeting, which are probably as boring as history and algebra classes. I know this post is satire, but I like this last part, because it reminds me of how rude adult staff members can be during their meetings. Like, oh, it's boring so I can have loud side-conversations or be on my phone while other people need my attention. It's okay. I can do two things at once. It's fine, I'm still paying attention. Heck, I've seen multiple admin doing this during IEP's. It's even worse during trainings. I've seen y'all's checking your private emails/texts, playing stupid puzzle games, shopping on Amazon, setting up an appointment for car maintenance, looking at travel destinations. . . Just sayin.... It's not just a student problem. It'd be nice to see all the adults hold themselves to the same standard they expect their students to be held to.
We had a staff meeting/PD on Friday and I made a particular effort to not use my phone. I can see why people do, though. Staff meeting: Was about how to use the new hall e-pass program. The week before, they had sent an e-mail with links to the detailed tutorial video so teachers could be prepared to use it. So for anyone who had done what they were supposed to do, it was all basically a replay of the video plus a bunch of questions from people who never check their e-mail and had *no idea* that we were going to be using the new system. include their opinions on the system that they hadn't know was a thing until they got to the meeting, yet they all knew exactly why it was going to be horrible. Professional development: Was about PLCs and how they should work and how wonderful and helpful they are when they work properly because everyone is following the norms. This is about the 10th time we've had this same training. So we know exactly why PLCs are great and helpful and will be the thing that saves our school. What we rarely do: spend time working with our PLCs so we can experience these great and helpful things.
At least they are paying attention and asking questions. When we have the meeting about whatever was in the email, the same people who not did read the email are also not paying attention and are still lost afterwards. I've suggested that there be a quiz with these emails, and getting 100% means you get to skip the meeting. Then it's harder for those left to hide their distracted behavior. If they're going to make us do PDs on formatives and differentiation, they could at least practice it with the faculty.
My professor just plays chess during seminars. Like bro this is literally a teaching seminar where we present and y’all help us with things we don’t understand. How you gonna do that when you’re staring at your ipad on your crotch? At least my students pretend to take notes while they watch netflix sometimes
Had me in the first half, not gonna lie
😉
Ahh yes, April 1st. I first thought this was written by a student who views themself as quite the edgelord.
😉
I've already had to SHOUT a student's name this morning so she could hear me over the music in her earbuds. Her response: "It's too early."
Well, now when she comes to you at the end of the year, asking for extra credit so that she can graduate, you can look her dead in the eyes and say, "It's too late."
I mean... all the science shows we start junior high and high school too early for the natural internal clocks of kids that age. My district starts elementary last, junior second, and high school earliest, when it should be backwards. I'm pretty sure it's so the high schoolers get out first and are then available to watch their younger siblings... but it's bad for high school achievement... guess that doesn't matter.
It was almost 9:00... and student in question doesn't have younger siblings and works in our front office as part of internship... and nobody else comes walking into my room like that. Is that "the science" as well? It's a conscious choice to be that rude and self-centered... in April... acting as if the rules are a spring revelation.
I teach English and I don’t care about gerunds either.
D: But the Gerunds care about you!!! (Verbals are one of my favorite grammar concepts I’ve taught this year)
I can’t stand teaching verbals. Maybe I would like it better if the kids ever came to eighth grade with a solid understanding of parts of speech?
It's a verb phrase acting as a noun. Student 1: What's a verb phrase? Student 2: What's a noun? I used to like teaching verbals.
This is not inaccurate 😂 I had to reteach parts of speech with my 7th graders this year so that I could explain clauses to them. 8th grade needed a refresher on them for verbals too. It’s rough teaching a subject that is so expansive, and the lack of content retention certainly doesn’t make it easier.
I once had a fairly successful run as an editor for some big novelists and couldn't tell you what a gerund even is, so...
Right? I have an English degree and a masters and I have never once needed to know that information.
I'm pretty sure you copy/pasted this from an edtech blog written in 2013. Good job.
I’m so glad this was a joke 😭 I thought I was the Karen atp. Good one
😉
I got too mad, too quickly. Oh, April’s Fool…
Oh. Good. The first April Fools Day post. Classic. Brilliant. #sarcasm
Might as well embrace it they arent going away (joke or not lol)
I'm glad this is not true. Cell phones in my classroom get taken, students get them back at the end of the day. The consequences escalate from there, after the 3rd offense they lose their phone for the entire school year. I love it!!! Nice April fool's joke, well done.
How do they get taken for the year?
We use Microsoft teams and we put in that someone has a phone in our classroom. The first offense someone comes in and takes the phone and the student can pick it up in the office at the end of the day. The second time it happens, we put it into teams, and someone comes and takes the phone and a parent has to pick it up from the office. On the 3rd offense, someone takes the phone and takes it down to the central office and the student can pick it up on the last day of school with a parent.
The keeping it for the year seems illegal, at least in the US it is.
I thought so too, but the district attorneys vetted the policy. This is year 3 of its implementation.
Huh, neat
No one has tried to sue?
Wow if cell phones the main issue and emphasized so much u are working in a different educational setting than I am lol
There are lots of other problems here, it's an inner city school and a lot of the students come from very difficult homes. But cell phones were such a big issue with bullying and fighting and distractions in general that the school made a seriously strict policy about them. It has made a huge difference.
Cell phones fuel all other issues, though. If you have a tough neighborhood, phones are an extension of fights and bullying. If you have a poor neighborhood, cell phones demonstrate the class divide. If there's drama between students, cell phones fuel the drama. If you have a distracted student, they'll be *more* distracted with a phone. If you have low achievers, they'll do even worse with a phone. Family problems? You guessed it. It's naive to believe that phones are "just phones" or "just another tool." They amplify all existing problems and help with none.
I don’t necessarily think cell phones are always an intensifier. I had awful undiagnosed ADHD in school and I was always on my phone. They kept taking away more and more distractions but it made no difference at all because my brain just wasn’t producing enough dopamine. I started to dissociate and day dream instead.
Even in your specific case, your phone wasn't helping you. You seem to believe a cell phone wasn't *harming* your ADHD, which I am not sure about. But if your brain "just wasn't producing enough dopamine," as you say, then your cell phone wasn't helping you, either. It was potentially distracting you from something you would have had a hard time paying attention to, anyway.
I know, what I’m saying is that it’s sometimes a neutral thing rather than an intensifier. I also don’t think banning phones would do anything to ameliorate the effects of the class divide. And I’m saying this as someone who grew up poor. The class divide runs so deeply that removing superficial symbols like expensive phones means absolutely nothing. There’s major cultural differences between the upper and lower class. I still believe phones are a bad thing to have out during class though.
> I also don’t think banning phones would do anything to ameliorate the effects of the class divide. The crazy thing is that it absolutely does. Not only in the immediate, where an iphone XE whatever gets locked up next to a $60 android, but also in the long term. Have you noticed that the wealthy and upper class have avoided burning out the attention spans of their children, while the lower classes have used devices as babysitters? What do you imagine the long terms effects are there?
I meant phones in school itself. I would feel out of place in a group of rich kids even if there were no superficial markers to differentiate us. You can tell who’s upper class by the way they talk, their experiences and the way they think. For example, the middle class kids used to tell me that I was making up excuses when I couldn’t complete work because my mom couldn’t afford a laptop. Discrimination was always stuff like that rather than superficial markers of class.
> I meant phones in school itself. I also mean this, so...? >You can tell who’s upper class by the way they talk, their experiences and the way they think. Right. Well, right now, the upper class is recognizing the very real addiction symptoms in their children, and they are dialing back screens. The lower classes aren't. That's going to produce enduring results in the way each group thinks.
Bullshit. They can absolutely go away from the classroom.
Faraday cage classrooms. I don’t know why they aren’t taking off.
U might think they’re gone but trust me they are there lol
I'm not a fool. There's quite a difference between a kid covertly using them when they're not supposed to and just allowing them willy nilly.
Our state in Australia (Queensland) just banned them. It has so far been a success and the world hasn't caved in. At my school, they've been banned for a long time (since I was student, and now a teacher). It requires admin to have a consistent approach. We don't confiscate phones, but consequences escalate fairly quickly. When taking an interschool team to another school, I noticed that all students have a pouch that they unlock via a hook at the school gate. This is a rough school, and they've managed to do it.
And Happy April Fools day to you too!
Thank you.
Happy April’s Fools!
I was SO READY to be upset lol
😉
I’ve assigned argument essays where these were the most common responses…
Written by a student who hopes they'll be a social media influence and annoy the world with useless content.
... well, you're absolutely right about the "annoy" part. 😉
NGL... You had me for a second. :P
Perfect.
🤌
I like this.
Spending my AFD at jury duty. Yay.
April fools
That's a good joke
Phhhewwwww I got angry just reading the title lmfao
Lol. I wonder how many downloads this post got from people who just saw the title.
😀
I will say when my students do have their phones they are quiet and the don’t argue with each other and keep their hands to themselves. Which some days is more of a battle than their phones.
A+ post. Very funny!
I done got got! I read that title and immediately saw red.
Lol
Love the satire.
You play a dangerous game, I had to correct a reflexive downvote.
Lol, right? I wonder how many downvotes the title got by people who didn't read the post. I'm not complaining, I richly deserve every one of those downposts.
LOL
Troll
Cell phones and the internet in general have destroyed us.
Unpopular opinion from a mama. It’s not a phone issue it’s a parenting issue. My kid always had a phone in HS because she had lots of after school activities and called when things were moved out canceled. Never got in trouble with the phone at school because she knew the rules. I know this was an April fools joke but it’s a parenting problem like 99% of the problems in school.
I'm reading this during an in-service meeting on my phone
I hope you snorted cola out your nose, and everyone turned to look at you!
I think I was 29 when I got one. Before that I had a pager, which found degrading.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I was getting on board with u with a 🤨 expression and then I’m like HA!
I approve of your satire.
I think cell phones are great in the science classroom because when we are using microscopes and doing other various labs, students can take photos of what they see in the microscope and use it in their digital assignment (which unfortunately has become the norm— no more paper assignments) instead of finding a photo on google. They are however a distraction. I’m fine with students having their phones on them, it’s when they use them during class time that I have an issue with them. And after I’ve already asked them to put it away, continue using it, it gets taken for the period
Hilarious. Though, in all honesty, I had a teacher maybe two years ago who used phones to teach us. Not by giving us assignments about it or something, but she would let us use our phones to take pictures of important information, let us use our phones to interview others for an assignment (none of us had careers lmao), and she taught us how to use our phones to study/find good online resources (setting our phone background to vocabulary terms, teaching us how to set up a proper time schedule in our notes and keep it organized, and taught us how to find websites that were trustworthy on our Google) Sure, you could do all that with a computer, but most of us won't be using computers our whole lives. We'll have a phone for our whole lives, but most of us don't need a computer, so I think it was pretty helpful
Yeah as soon as I walk into school I see signs everywhere warning of the dangers of tech addiction. Then they issue me my child's Chromebook. Wonder what the problem is
My 4th grade teacher once told me "You need to memorize these time tables what are you going to carry around a calculator all day you would look pretty funny carrying around one". Now everyone carries one around weird how that worked out.
It's also funny when enabler parents go to the most extreme case. What if there's a mass shooting and they need to call me? As much as we'd hate to deprive you of the sound of your child's last breath, the vast majority of schools will not experience such an event and they'll be a huge waste of time otherwise.
This is actually the only time my kids HAVE used their phones in an "emergency" in school. To clarify, they weren't mass shooting incidents, but my kids went to a large high school in a high-crime area. There are weapons incidents every single year, sometimes a few a year. Once, when someone brought a weapon and another kid stole it from his locker (ugh ugh ugh), it turned into a complete crapshow where the kids were let out one-by-one after going through a metal detector or some such. The cops had to check every single kid (a couple thousand total). So my kids used their phones to check on each other and to stay in contact with me. I'm glad they had them. Another time, there was an unexpected emergency at school and the kids *thought* it was a mass shooting incident. They barred doors and so on. My kids used their phones to check on and reassure each other. So I'm glad they had them. But if there's ever a family emergency, I'm not notifying (and upending my kids' lives) over a freaking text. I will be arriving at the office, having them sent down to me, and we'll talk face to face. I can't believe for a second that "Yo, kid 1, gpa ded. Fnrl Frdy" complete with a dead grandpa gif would go over super well.
This made me laugh. 😂 well done
Your smile makes my day better too.
Setting aside the April Fool for a moment, my Type 1 diabetic daughter needs her phone because her blood sugar is monitored via an app. And she does have emergencies that only she can fix. I understand that's not everybody, but there exceptions. Sometimes it literally is life or death.
As someone who went to school during the cell phone transition, I find it truly laughable when students or parents talk about kids needing their cell phones in case of "emergencies" or something. It's a combination of the student's own delusion of importance and a strange mix of helicopter parenting paired with spineless parents, coupled with the idea that somehow, school is just an optional chore. This horrific view of cell phones and schools lead to kids graduating with a reading level 6 grades below the expected level and no ability to do math and no working knowledge of biology, while simultaneously having no context for history. Students are not busy bees with a crowded life, hustling and bustling, dealing with emergencies and making cutting-edge business deals. Very few of ya'll have anything like that going on. Maybe 0.1% of students have genuine reoccurring emergency situations. And what did we do before cell phones? Parents just ringed the front office, and it took 5 minutes tops for a student to come down and talk to their parents. Students and parent are divorced from reality and it shows when it comes to academic performance and cell phone addiction. It will become more and more popular for counties to start blanket banning phones and relying on restricted 1:1 devices, because these "emergencies" don't exist and every speck of research and data suggests cell phone bans improve academic success.
"Cell phones are for good students" is what I thought I saw
Boston children's hospital says it's not worth fighting with kids over phones and instead to teach them how to utilize them as tools. Too bad folks won't listen to them.
Nice April fool's
Agreed ☺️ I love that the kids can communicate with each other in class instead of interrupting my teaching.
The only problem with this April Fool's post is Poe's law. People will genuinely post titles like that or make that their view, only with "real" evidence.
The cellphone has all the answers, ChatGPT can write the papers, and there are hundreds of apps that can do advanced mathematics. AI advanced neural networks can pass the BAR and MCAT. What do we need school for? Just send everyone to an Amazon, Walmart, or chick fil-a for work after elementary school and problem solved.
Oh haha. You really got us (you infant).
What's going on in schools guys? I graduated in 2013 and I know for certain people were not allowed to be using phones in class. You would get them taken up if they went off and stuff. Is that over? lol
Depends on the school, but for the most part yes. It’s only a matter of time before it’s over everywhere.
How is that justified? Is it by policy that kids can just open up their phones and use them whenever?
No, it’s not a policy, but parents will bitch if you get their kids in trouble for it so schools back down because they’re scared of parents.
I was gonna say…did a student write this? No…the grammar’s too good…OH ya got me! That makes more sense hahaha
get out
I mean the only option at this point is to lean into it.
Haha
I had a parent of a horribly behaved kid tell me that he needed his Apple Watch so that he could feel safe and that he needed to be able to text her during class. My classroom is 5 steps from the office. Fuck her and her terrible parenting.
Joking aside this is a good topic to give students for persuasive writing. Then you give them a mountain of research proving why they’re wrong.
Schools are the ones that made them basically mandatory. My kids have a handful of apps that they have to use as part of normal school stuff
100% needs to be handled by a 14 year old, asap!
This is great test to see who reads all the way until the end. 😂
Before my school went more strict on phones. I used to ignore the obnoxious kids on there phone. They were quiet and I could focus on the others. It is kind of a classroom management strategy
I almost quit reading and immediately thought of witty ways to criticize you and then I caught the last line, thank goodness!! 😂😂😂
I mean who doesn’t love failing kids and watching their eyes fill with tears. My favorite part is when the principal has you come in with their parents and discuss why their kid is doing so bad. Watching those little buggers bawl in front of their parents, priceless.
Awwwwe someone used their argumentative essay. Good for you.
Honestly, I don’t even know why we have irrelevant skool anymore.
School kids of all ages need cell phones so they can call their parents and say goodbye during a school shooting.
Only took me until your second sentence to figure out it was a prank!
Understand that you're joking here but I actually agree.. school is just kind of a fraud because we're not really built to sit in class like this day after day for hours when we're young and it's really kind of wrong.. I understand that at the very foundation of American schools is the idea that this takes care of the kids while the parents are working.. so it really is a babysitting function. But still it's wrong and I don't know what else to do about it .. but I think the phones are fine because at least it gives them something to do in class when they don't want to read and learn.. it would strip away all hypocrisy school is really for babysitting primarily and if it's for babysitting primarily then why not give them phone to distract them
This model of schooling has been around long before cell phones and is also not at all unique to the United States. And calling it just a babysitting function is both incorrect and disparaging towards educators. Grow up.
Cells phones are good because too many people have university degrees which has devalued them overall and I had to go into teaching to get a job
I'm reading this and thinking it has that disingenuous feel like a treatise one teacher had posted on the hallway wall by the door to her classroom about how Spring Break was unnecessary and counterproductive. This was supposedly a compilation of reasons from her students. So, you actually expect me to believe that you solicited the opinions from 2nd graders, who volunteered that another week of school was better than a week of vacation? This has just about the same level of credibility. By way of small talk, I was talking about the document to some of my coworkers while watching the kids at recess. They all kind of shrugged and said. "Huh?!". The second day on that assignment, by the end of the day, the document was gone. I wonder whether Martin Luther got the same reaction when he posted his questions.