California considers limits/ban on cell phones in schools

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

So I vote for keeping phones but perhaps a national education campaign to reign in use to times and places that are appropriate.

Waste millions of our tax dollars and hand them over to madison avenue when in fact the problem has nothing to do with not knowing when it's appropriate to use them. Kid's already know it's not appropriate to use them in school and are doing it anyway.

 

[Toolulu22]

Unofficially and from my own classroom experience. IE- the kids who failed the state assessment last year. There is a link between the kids who are addicted to their phones (texting, playing games, VIDEO TAPING EACH OTHER and posting to SNAPCHAT etc) and poor grades. If your kids grades are in the tank, take away their phone for a bit and see if their grade improves.

As a teacher with about 30 kids in each class- taking away your child’s phone is not so easy. They “put it away” for a few minutes when caught only to pull it out again. I also do not want to be responsible for a $1000 iPhone times #of kids. On the occasion that I have taken a kids phone and given it to administration, one time the VP put it away and then called out sick for two days, causing the kid to melt down because he couldn’t play Fortnight. The kid spent 90 minutes of class time asking for his phone.

Phone calls home- parents working and don’t see the issue/not available to return calls/ don’t relate to the gravity, grandparents who say the kid doesn’t listen to them either.

The bigger issue is videotaping. I see kids in the hallways pulling out the phone and videotaping each other. They post these pictures/videos and share them- leads to targeting/bullying. When there is a fight, kids crowd around with their phones out and blast out the fight- prompting constant discussion of the fight. It breeds negativity throughout the school. I honestly can’t stand seeing when this is happening.

The phone for use as an educational tool is minimal. It happens to a small extent. I COULD use it in my classroom, but choose not to on most days because I don’t want to give kids the opportunity to pull out their phones. Most times, they use it as a calculator or to look things up. I have alternative tools for that. We also go to a computer lab to do web assignments (because not all kids have a cell phone), and use the SmartBoard as a class to do things like WebQuest.

I don’t know what the solution is to the cell phone issue- but, I see many kids in our school using the phone inappropriately and the consequences are bullying and failing grades. So something needs to change.

 

[sk!mom]

I can't imagine that this policy would sit well with most parents. There have been too many safety issues at school where you would want a child to be able to contact you.

As a teacher, my opinion is that this is a classroom management issue that each teacher should decide. I teach 4th grade and require phones to be silenced and in backpacks. My sister and a good friend teach high school math and they have a pocket organizer and require that students drop their phone in a pocket for the class period. There are other subjects where students might be able to use them for research.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Waste millions of our tax dollars and hand them over to madison avenue when in fact the problem has nothing to do with not knowing when it's appropriate to use them. Kid's already know it's not appropriate to use them in school and are doing it anyway.

People also know it's not appropriate to drink and drive, etc., but they still do it (ETA and still educate about it). As the above poster mentioned, people have become addicted to their phones (ETA and at times that can be a detriment). If there's any space for appropriate use today, we should try to highlight it, especially for young people who have grown up with phones and may not realize.

 

[tvguy]

I get text alerts for general things delays and cancellations, or reminders about parent nights and after school activities. I also get daily emails from the high school letting me know the daily news- which includes scheduled lock down.
I can't say what would happen in a true emergency. I have gotten text alerts after the fact (we've had some threats) however I still would rather I be able to speak to my child and know how they are. A text alert isn't going to be able to give me that info or any real information about the situation.
I'm thankful our schools have embraced cell phone use by students.

Like I posted earlier, they use "shelter in place" and "lockdowns" here so frequently, in the interest of safety, and rightly so, I can see where it could be a problem in the classroom under those circumstances.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Both of my kids recently graduated from California high schools (2014 and 2017). My younger son attended our neighborhood school. My older son has Asperger's and was bused to a different school that had an appropriate program for his needs. During his senior year, he would ride the bus to school for the morning session, then ride another bus to a vocational school, then ride back to our neighborhood school where I would pick him up. That was a lot of bus riding. His phone was like his lifeline during those rides. He would play games and listen to music to pass the time. He could also text or call me if anything was making him feel anxious or unsafe. During the class time, his teachers had no-phone policies. But the students could use their phones during breaks or lunch. I felt better knowing he could reach me whenever he needed to.

My younger son always had his phone at school. Each teacher had their own rules regarding phone usage. Some had zero-tolerance where they didn't ever want to see a phone in the classroom for any reason. Others allowed phone use for research purposes. When given time to work on projects, my son could get a lot done using his phone. I always felt better knowing he could contact me anytime. He would sometimes call or text during breaks. A few times, he wasn't feeling well and wanted to talk through his symptoms to decide if he needed to come home. One time entire school was evacuated to the back field because there was a small fire in one of the buildings. I drove by just in time to see hoards of kids leaving the buildings and the fire trucks arriving. Almost immediately, he texted to say the fire alarms went off and he was standing in the field with his friends.

While I agree that schools should have their own policies about classroom cell phone usage, I think kids should have access to their phones during non-classroom time. It's up to parents to teach their kids to be responsible and respectful with their phones.

 

[wgeo]

Thanks to this thread, we had a great family discussion during dinner last night. I asked the kids more questions about how they used their phones and different teachers policies. According to my kids (who are certainly not perfect, but in general are rule followers) most kids tend to follow the cell phone rules, however there are very clear lines between teachers that "in control" and those that "don't care". Those are my kids words, the in control teachers are strict and have specific rules and the kids know to follow them. Both kids have seen people get their phones taken away in those classes at the beginning of the year. The "dont care" teachers fall into two categories. There are the ones who are just really laid back and have verbally said they don't care what the kids do as long as it doesn't disrupt class - they say the kids will often text during that class. The other group don't have great classroom management skills. According to the kids, these teachers "claim to have rules but never follow them or only for the kids they don't like".

I just really appreciate that this thread led to some great conversations with my kids and was a great opportunity to revisit our expectations regarding following rules and showing respect etc. Thanks