Summary
Cellphone bans in schools are gaining bipartisan momentum, with at least eight states, including California, Florida, and Virginia, enacting restrictions to combat classroom distractions and protect children’s mental health.
Governors from both parties, such as Arkansas’ Sarah Huckabee Sanders and California’s Gavin Newsom, support these measures, citing benefits of phone-free school days.
While some parents oppose bans, citing emergencies and transportation needs, proponents argue phones disrupt learning and may pose risks during crises.
States differ on implementation, from outright bans to district-level policies or funding for phone storage solutions.
Wait for it in … 3 … 2 … 1 … say it with me … “but who will think of the children” … when inevitably there’s yet another school shooting and they can’t call 911?
It’s pretty fucked up that there’s a society on this Earth where school shootings are “expected” and that’s the reason why you cannot remove mobile phones from the student body.
The question is, how many dead students is it going to take for this phone ban to be reversed?
I really am grateful that I am not forced to make those choices living on the other side of the planet.
I don’t know how other schools/districts are handling this issue, but in my kids’ high school they have plastic storage bins in every classroom. Some classes have one big bin by the door. Others have multiple smaller bins at each group table. When the kids enter the room, they are expected to put their phone in the bin and leave it there until the end class. The bins aren’t locked or put anywhere they can’t be reached in an emergency.
From everything I’ve heard from both teachers and students, this new policy is working wonders to increase student engagement and interaction. I honestly don’t see any downsides. The only people I’ve seen complaining are helicopter parents who are upset that they can’t get ahold of their kid at any moment of the day.
Teachers and staff can do that at least as well as any student. It’s a non-issue.
Kids really don’t have any need for cell phones in school. Maybe those who do have a real need, can drop them at the office each morning, and pick them up again at the end of the day. Perhaps some other exception I can’t think of. But certainly no need for students generally.
You mean like the student who was required to leave their medication, insulin if I recall, at the office because of “needles” and then was denied access and called the fire department who broke down the door to get access so the student didn’t die?
I don’t think that students leaving things “at the office” is ever a solution and I don’t think you have any idea what the logistics of 200 or 2,000 phones (that was the size of my primary school and high school respectively) at the office looks like.
Yes. Exactly like that. Cell phones are insulin. They both do exactly the same thing.
In general I think cell phones in school are a bad plan.
In America when violent terrorists are going to be emboldened by Trump? And after Uvalde? I’d tell my kid fuck the rules, you keep your cell phone on you at all times.
Wait, you want your kid to be talking and making noise while there’s an attacker?
Do you only have a landline? Phones these days have the ability to send messages by typing little letters by tapping on a screen and sending those letters to someone else with a phone that has a screen on it where they can type letters back the same way.
I’m not surprised you haven’t heard about that though, it’s pretty new technology.
I love you, goodbye.
First of all, there are emergency services that could be contacted with this new “texting” technology you apparently haven’t heard of.
Secondly, if you thought you were about to die, wouldn’t YOU want to tell the people you loved that you loved them one last time? Because I sure as fuck would.
Hm, phone addiction disrupting child mental development or the very rare chance of a shooter so you and a bunch of people can redundantly alert authorities. Honestly, I don’t have a dog in this. I’m fine with either.
Sorry, are you under the bizarre impression that teens don’t already have phones?
Honestly, I don’t have a dog in this.
You clearly don’t, so maybe let the people who do have kids work this out.
I have a “soft” bias, obviously. But really, I don’t want to antagonize anyone who has a hard opinion on it. You do you, and find out what works best for you and your family.
I’m not sure where I land on this debate.
What I am sure of is that most teachers would still have cell phones, so the idea that kids couldn’t make a call to emergency services doesn’t seem relevant. I’m sure a call from any teacher or other employee would be just as effective. Claiming kids need phones so that they can call 911 in an emergency isn’t relevant.
The fact that we have to discuss whether or not kids need to have phones available during school because of school shootings – that’s the truly insane part. I’m no longer convinced that any body count would produce effective “well regulated” gun control in the US.
Claiming kids need phones so that they can call 911 in an emergency isn’t relevant.
No, it’s definitely relevant when we keep hearing that the first calls from several of these attacks have been from students.
I mean it’s pretty simple common sense there… in a shooting… shits happening fast. In an emergency the order of process is, get yourself somewhere safe ASAP, Then consider calling.
Teachers have much harder responsibility… because they need to get their students in as safe of a position as possible, then themselves… Then try to contact help. So teachers aren’t likely to be in a position of relative safety to call, until after the whole classroom has already been in such a position.
On top of that just numbers… obviously there’s 30x more students than teachers… so just on a numbers basis in a free for all, when someone is in a position to make the emergency call, it’s just statistically more likely to be a student.
I was a teacher for a few years but tapped out and got back into the real world. My partner is a teacher. My ex is a tutor and former teacher.
Based on those experiences - cellphones are a menace. They always were, and always will be. Technology in the classroom should rarely be in the hands of students, and if it is in their hands, it should be made such that it cannot access the internet or anything non-educational. That’s an absolute.
More importantly, we need parents to enforce these rules as moral bases. We shouldn’t be distracting babies with screens when they’re yelling and screaming. We shouldn’t be letting kids have ‘screen time’ without clear supervision or with any form of internet content. We need parents who actually do the job, because as we become more reliant on technology it’s gone from the TV Babysitter to the TV Parent to the Internet Parent. That’s no way to live, to be educated, or to understand the world around you.
These statewide and district-wide bans and solutions are important. But what I think would be more important would be for there to be fines. Take it easy on the kid, but any time they’re distracted by their phone or other electronic device, that’s a $100 ticket issued to the parents. Misuse of school property?$500 ticket, and a bill for the cost of the device since it potentially has to be scrapped. I bet that if we did that, parents would send far, far fewer phones to school and make sure the kids only use school computers for school.
But what I think would be more important would be for there to be fines.
I like this, it seems like a very practical approach that takes on the root issue. Parents need to address their kids’ conduct in school, it can’t solely be on the teachers and staff.
Just to play devil’s advocate; what if the parents ultimately refuse to pay the fines?
Same as with any fine related to a kid. CFS gets involved, and the parents get jailed.
Well Jesus fuck this escalated quickly.
I don’t see how it’s that quick an escalation. When someone doesn’t or can’t pay assessed fines, they go to jail. That’s just how our wealth-based justice system works. When those fines involve children, CFS/DYFS needs to get involved.
I’m also responding to the question of “ultimate refusal”, that’s not just one or two screwups, or referring anyone with a willingness to try and find a way to reduce the fines with community service time (like say, chaperoning a field trip for their kids’ classes) or the like. This is working against someone who’s planted their feet, refuses to be a good parent to their child, and refuses to pay in to the system which will inevitably have to try and clean up the mess they’re making of this tiny human’s social and mental state when that minor becomes a person.
If the parents legitimately can’t pay, then have them volunteer for the school. Let them see the consequences of their actions first-hand.
Have you guys tried banning usage of phones? Like literally just that? Having a phone im your pocket is one thing, but not being allowed to use it except for X is an option. X= a room, a special time or “just to look up school schedule info”
This works…it doesn’t have to work 100%, eveb 80% is enough.
My mom was a teacher in America. The problem is that students simply don’t listen. Her entire day was spent trying to either police the use of cell phones or overcome language and reading difficulties. Handing out consequences to more than a few students would negatively affect her review, so she had to let a lot of things slide to address the worst offenders if she wanted to keep her job.
Banning phone use would probably work if we didn’t have such an overcrowded and broken educational system already, but as it stands now, there are only maybe 1-2 students per year who are actually able to get a quality education, and that is entirely due to their own self motivation.
