APS School Board candidates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chen Ling is commenting on Facebook now. His comments are very naive.

Commenting where? Please give an example of how he's naive.

Although his kids appear to be preschool/early elementary, he said, on a thread about cell phones, that when his kids are teenagers they won't be addicted to screens because he will make sure they only have flip phones

A parent of young kids telling parents of teenagers how to parent teenagers is second only to non-parents telling parents how to parent in terms of naivete--or maybe its worse, because if you are a parent, you should know what you don't know

Only naivete there, if he's a strong parent who actually adheres to his values and rules instead of caving like most, is assuming flip phones will still be available when his kids are teens. One can only hope that limited-capability phones do indeed become more popular over the next several years !

OK--I still think its a red flag. As a parent of boys, I would never give a girl mom advice on raising girls based on what I think I would do. I know how far I can apply my own experience and when I should listen to others. And since we're talking about someone who wants to be a politician, it matters that he's weighing in on things he hasn't experienced and doesn't have the awareness to recognize that he's not going to be able to dictate what his own kids do, let alone the actions of an entire school system.

My comments were based on the following:
1. Phones in schools have been causing problems.
2. This includes interruptions based on the high number of notifications: https://www.edweek.org/technology/students-get-hundreds-of-notifications-on-their-phones-every-day-even-at-school/2023/09)
3. Research is showing more and more that social media use seems to be harmful to early teens: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/
4. Some kids need to be able to contact their parent or caregiver

#1-3 has generated a lot of no-phone-whatsoever-in-schools.
I was trying to recommend a compromise (flip phones or the Light Phone) that can accommodate #4.
There are some inexpensive phones and plans for non-smartphones. The kids can use whatever outside of school, subject to what their parents want.

Chen is just digging in. This makes me like him even less. He doesn't get it at all. Who does he think he is to make a recommendation when he has not even gone through this himself with his own kids? Chen, get back to us when you have some lived experience when your own children actually get to this age.

+1

Or at least have some humility to admit you don’t really know.

Right, I want someone who will actually listen to parents who live this, not think they have all the answers and make policies based on their own ego.

I’m pretty sure we have heard time and time again from TEACHERS on this subject …and they all say they need the phones out of the classroom!

+100!!
Parents give kip service to teacher needs and teacher support; but when it's inconvenient for them personally (ie, I can't text johnny anytime I want), it doesn't matter what teachers say.

Larry Fishtahler had an interesting note about this: In the NAACP forum he shared that in his Science classes (I forget if it was physics or environmental science), he had students take pictures of the agenda on the board so they could reference it and share it with their parents. He also said that some of his fellow teachers straight up banned them. I think he was cautioning a "one size fits all" policy but he did specifically say that teachers who want to ban phones in the classroom should be given full support by the admin. Does Kathleen Clark have an opinion on this? I feel like she could go either way on cell phones.

[Anonymous]

ChenLing wrote:Video from last night's candidate forum, hosted by Arlington Young Democrats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v-aR5tOiyw

I appreciate speaking about not having enough SPED support and expecting teachers to figure it out. My child went 6 months without a SPED teacher. It was awful...awful for the teacher who tried their best to help our child while supporting 25 kids in a class and terrible for our child who was lost in a class of 25 kids without support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:Video from last night's candidate forum, hosted by Arlington Young Democrats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v-aR5tOiyw

I appreciate speaking about not having enough SPED support and expecting teachers to figure it out. My child went 6 months without a SPED teacher. It was awful...awful for the teacher who tried their best to help our child while supporting 25 kids in a class and terrible for our child who was lost in a class of 25 kids without support.

Terrible.

Both Kathleen and Larry were talking about how when they were in special education classrooms the resources they were promised or that were said to have been delivered were not actually there. There is definitely a disconnect between the classroom and the administration and its so tough on the teachers and the students. What makes me mad is that teachers understand that students learn differently and want to provide that tailored learning relationship but with rising class sizes it becomes less about teaching and more about management.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chen Ling is commenting on Facebook now. His comments are very naive.

Commenting where? Please give an example of how he's naive.

Although his kids appear to be preschool/early elementary, he said, on a thread about cell phones, that when his kids are teenagers they won't be addicted to screens because he will make sure they only have flip phones

A parent of young kids telling parents of teenagers how to parent teenagers is second only to non-parents telling parents how to parent in terms of naivete--or maybe its worse, because if you are a parent, you should know what you don't know

Only naivete there, if he's a strong parent who actually adheres to his values and rules instead of caving like most, is assuming flip phones will still be available when his kids are teens. One can only hope that limited-capability phones do indeed become more popular over the next several years !

OK--I still think its a red flag. As a parent of boys, I would never give a girl mom advice on raising girls based on what I think I would do. I know how far I can apply my own experience and when I should listen to others. And since we're talking about someone who wants to be a politician, it matters that he's weighing in on things he hasn't experienced and doesn't have the awareness to recognize that he's not going to be able to dictate what his own kids do, let alone the actions of an entire school system.

My comments were based on the following:
1. Phones in schools have been causing problems.
2. This includes interruptions based on the high number of notifications: https://www.edweek.org/technology/students-get-hundreds-of-notifications-on-their-phones-every-day-even-at-school/2023/09)
3. Research is showing more and more that social media use seems to be harmful to early teens: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/
4. Some kids need to be able to contact their parent or caregiver

#1-3 has generated a lot of no-phone-whatsoever-in-schools.
I was trying to recommend a compromise (flip phones or the Light Phone) that can accommodate #4.
There are some inexpensive phones and plans for non-smartphones. The kids can use whatever outside of school, subject to what their parents want.

Chen is just digging in. This makes me like him even less. He doesn't get it at all. Who does he think he is to make a recommendation when he has not even gone through this himself with his own kids? Chen, get back to us when you have some lived experience when your own children actually get to this age.

+1

Or at least have some humility to admit you don’t really know.

Right, I want someone who will actually listen to parents who live this, not think they have all the answers and make policies based on their own ego.

I’m pretty sure we have heard time and time again from TEACHERS on this subject …and they all say they need the phones out of the classroom!

+100!!
Parents give kip service to teacher needs and teacher support; but when it's inconvenient for them personally (ie, I can't text johnny anytime I want), it doesn't matter what teachers say.

This. Teachers need APS to back them up on phones. No one is trying to ban them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chen Ling is commenting on Facebook now. His comments are very naive.

Commenting where? Please give an example of how he's naive.

Although his kids appear to be preschool/early elementary, he said, on a thread about cell phones, that when his kids are teenagers they won't be addicted to screens because he will make sure they only have flip phones

A parent of young kids telling parents of teenagers how to parent teenagers is second only to non-parents telling parents how to parent in terms of naivete--or maybe its worse, because if you are a parent, you should know what you don't know

Only naivete there, if he's a strong parent who actually adheres to his values and rules instead of caving like most, is assuming flip phones will still be available when his kids are teens. One can only hope that limited-capability phones do indeed become more popular over the next several years !

OK--I still think its a red flag. As a parent of boys, I would never give a girl mom advice on raising girls based on what I think I would do. I know how far I can apply my own experience and when I should listen to others. And since we're talking about someone who wants to be a politician, it matters that he's weighing in on things he hasn't experienced and doesn't have the awareness to recognize that he's not going to be able to dictate what his own kids do, let alone the actions of an entire school system.

My comments were based on the following:
1. Phones in schools have been causing problems.
2. This includes interruptions based on the high number of notifications: https://www.edweek.org/technology/students-get-hundreds-of-notifications-on-their-phones-every-day-even-at-school/2023/09)
3. Research is showing more and more that social media use seems to be harmful to early teens: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/
4. Some kids need to be able to contact their parent or caregiver

#1-3 has generated a lot of no-phone-whatsoever-in-schools.
I was trying to recommend a compromise (flip phones or the Light Phone) that can accommodate #4.
There are some inexpensive phones and plans for non-smartphones. The kids can use whatever outside of school, subject to what their parents want.

Chen is just digging in. This makes me like him even less. He doesn't get it at all. Who does he think he is to make a recommendation when he has not even gone through this himself with his own kids? Chen, get back to us when you have some lived experience when your own children actually get to this age.

+1

Or at least have some humility to admit you don’t really know.

Right, I want someone who will actually listen to parents who live this, not think they have all the answers and make policies based on their own ego.

I’m pretty sure we have heard time and time again from TEACHERS on this subject …and they all say they need the phones out of the classroom!

+100!!
Parents give kip service to teacher needs and teacher support; but when it's inconvenient for them personally (ie, I can't text johnny anytime I want), it doesn't matter what teachers say.

This. Teachers need APS to back them up on phones. No one is trying to ban them.

Yes some parents are trying to ban them completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chen Ling is commenting on Facebook now. His comments are very naive.

Commenting where? Please give an example of how he's naive.

Although his kids appear to be preschool/early elementary, he said, on a thread about cell phones, that when his kids are teenagers they won't be addicted to screens because he will make sure they only have flip phones

A parent of young kids telling parents of teenagers how to parent teenagers is second only to non-parents telling parents how to parent in terms of naivete--or maybe its worse, because if you are a parent, you should know what you don't know

Only naivete there, if he's a strong parent who actually adheres to his values and rules instead of caving like most, is assuming flip phones will still be available when his kids are teens. One can only hope that limited-capability phones do indeed become more popular over the next several years !

OK--I still think its a red flag. As a parent of boys, I would never give a girl mom advice on raising girls based on what I think I would do. I know how far I can apply my own experience and when I should listen to others. And since we're talking about someone who wants to be a politician, it matters that he's weighing in on things he hasn't experienced and doesn't have the awareness to recognize that he's not going to be able to dictate what his own kids do, let alone the actions of an entire school system.

My comments were based on the following:
1. Phones in schools have been causing problems.
2. This includes interruptions based on the high number of notifications: https://www.edweek.org/technology/students-get-hundreds-of-notifications-on-their-phones-every-day-even-at-school/2023/09)
3. Research is showing more and more that social media use seems to be harmful to early teens: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/
4. Some kids need to be able to contact their parent or caregiver

#1-3 has generated a lot of no-phone-whatsoever-in-schools.
I was trying to recommend a compromise (flip phones or the Light Phone) that can accommodate #4.
There are some inexpensive phones and plans for non-smartphones. The kids can use whatever outside of school, subject to what their parents want.

Chen is just digging in. This makes me like him even less. He doesn't get it at all. Who does he think he is to make a recommendation when he has not even gone through this himself with his own kids? Chen, get back to us when you have some lived experience when your own children actually get to this age.

+1

Or at least have some humility to admit you don’t really know.

Right, I want someone who will actually listen to parents who live this, not think they have all the answers and make policies based on their own ego.

I’m pretty sure we have heard time and time again from TEACHERS on this subject …and they all say they need the phones out of the classroom!

+100!!
Parents give kip service to teacher needs and teacher support; but when it's inconvenient for them personally (ie, I can't text johnny anytime I want), it doesn't matter what teachers say.

larry has said he has students who take pictures of assignment on the board on their phones. not all teachers are against phones in their classes, some see the good they can do.

[Anonymous]

What about the kids who don't have phones? Or they didn't notice that they took a blurry picture? Why can't all of the kids write down the assignment, or better yet, the teacher can hand out the assignment?

This seems like a poor justification to me, while the downsides of phones in classrooms are many and harder to avoid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chen Ling is commenting on Facebook now. His comments are very naive.

Commenting where? Please give an example of how he's naive.

Although his kids appear to be preschool/early elementary, he said, on a thread about cell phones, that when his kids are teenagers they won't be addicted to screens because he will make sure they only have flip phones

A parent of young kids telling parents of teenagers how to parent teenagers is second only to non-parents telling parents how to parent in terms of naivete--or maybe its worse, because if you are a parent, you should know what you don't know

Only naivete there, if he's a strong parent who actually adheres to his values and rules instead of caving like most, is assuming flip phones will still be available when his kids are teens. One can only hope that limited-capability phones do indeed become more popular over the next several years !

OK--I still think its a red flag. As a parent of boys, I would never give a girl mom advice on raising girls based on what I think I would do. I know how far I can apply my own experience and when I should listen to others. And since we're talking about someone who wants to be a politician, it matters that he's weighing in on things he hasn't experienced and doesn't have the awareness to recognize that he's not going to be able to dictate what his own kids do, let alone the actions of an entire school system.

My comments were based on the following:
1. Phones in schools have been causing problems.
2. This includes interruptions based on the high number of notifications: https://www.edweek.org/technology/students-get-hundreds-of-notifications-on-their-phones-every-day-even-at-school/2023/09)
3. Research is showing more and more that social media use seems to be harmful to early teens: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/
4. Some kids need to be able to contact their parent or caregiver

#1-3 has generated a lot of no-phone-whatsoever-in-schools.
I was trying to recommend a compromise (flip phones or the Light Phone) that can accommodate #4.
There are some inexpensive phones and plans for non-smartphones. The kids can use whatever outside of school, subject to what their parents want.

Chen is just digging in. This makes me like him even less. He doesn't get it at all. Who does he think he is to make a recommendation when he has not even gone through this himself with his own kids? Chen, get back to us when you have some lived experience when your own children actually get to this age.

+1

Or at least have some humility to admit you don’t really know.

Right, I want someone who will actually listen to parents who live this, not think they have all the answers and make policies based on their own ego.

I’m pretty sure we have heard time and time again from TEACHERS on this subject …and they all say they need the phones out of the classroom!

+100!!
Parents give kip service to teacher needs and teacher support; but when it's inconvenient for them personally (ie, I can't text johnny anytime I want), it doesn't matter what teachers say.

larry has said he has students who take pictures of assignment on the board on their phones. not all teachers are against phones in their classes, some see the good they can do.

Yeah - because there is no other possible way for the kids to record the assignments posted on the board....like writing it down on paper. Thank goodness for cell phones with cameras! Students would never know what their assignments are without them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chen Ling is commenting on Facebook now. His comments are very naive.

Commenting where? Please give an example of how he's naive.

Although his kids appear to be preschool/early elementary, he said, on a thread about cell phones, that when his kids are teenagers they won't be addicted to screens because he will make sure they only have flip phones

A parent of young kids telling parents of teenagers how to parent teenagers is second only to non-parents telling parents how to parent in terms of naivete--or maybe its worse, because if you are a parent, you should know what you don't know

Only naivete there, if he's a strong parent who actually adheres to his values and rules instead of caving like most, is assuming flip phones will still be available when his kids are teens. One can only hope that limited-capability phones do indeed become more popular over the next several years !

OK--I still think its a red flag. As a parent of boys, I would never give a girl mom advice on raising girls based on what I think I would do. I know how far I can apply my own experience and when I should listen to others. And since we're talking about someone who wants to be a politician, it matters that he's weighing in on things he hasn't experienced and doesn't have the awareness to recognize that he's not going to be able to dictate what his own kids do, let alone the actions of an entire school system.

My comments were based on the following:
1. Phones in schools have been causing problems.
2. This includes interruptions based on the high number of notifications: https://www.edweek.org/technology/students-get-hundreds-of-notifications-on-their-phones-every-day-even-at-school/2023/09)
3. Research is showing more and more that social media use seems to be harmful to early teens: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/
4. Some kids need to be able to contact their parent or caregiver

#1-3 has generated a lot of no-phone-whatsoever-in-schools.
I was trying to recommend a compromise (flip phones or the Light Phone) that can accommodate #4.
There are some inexpensive phones and plans for non-smartphones. The kids can use whatever outside of school, subject to what their parents want.

Chen is just digging in. This makes me like him even less. He doesn't get it at all. Who does he think he is to make a recommendation when he has not even gone through this himself with his own kids? Chen, get back to us when you have some lived experience when your own children actually get to this age.

+1

Or at least have some humility to admit you don’t really know.

Right, I want someone who will actually listen to parents who live this, not think they have all the answers and make policies based on their own ego.

I’m pretty sure we have heard time and time again from TEACHERS on this subject …and they all say they need the phones out of the classroom!

+100!!
Parents give kip service to teacher needs and teacher support; but when it's inconvenient for them personally (ie, I can't text johnny anytime I want), it doesn't matter what teachers say.

larry has said he has students who take pictures of assignment on the board on their phones. not all teachers are against phones in their classes, some see the good they can do.

Yeah - because there is no other possible way for the kids to record the assignments posted on the board....like writing it down on paper. Thank goodness for cell phones with cameras! Students would never know what their assignments are without them!

Sounds like you have a kid who does this perfectly, not all of us do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chen Ling is commenting on Facebook now. His comments are very naive.

Commenting where? Please give an example of how he's naive.

Although his kids appear to be preschool/early elementary, he said, on a thread about cell phones, that when his kids are teenagers they won't be addicted to screens because he will make sure they only have flip phones

A parent of young kids telling parents of teenagers how to parent teenagers is second only to non-parents telling parents how to parent in terms of naivete--or maybe its worse, because if you are a parent, you should know what you don't know

Only naivete there, if he's a strong parent who actually adheres to his values and rules instead of caving like most, is assuming flip phones will still be available when his kids are teens. One can only hope that limited-capability phones do indeed become more popular over the next several years !

OK--I still think its a red flag. As a parent of boys, I would never give a girl mom advice on raising girls based on what I think I would do. I know how far I can apply my own experience and when I should listen to others. And since we're talking about someone who wants to be a politician, it matters that he's weighing in on things he hasn't experienced and doesn't have the awareness to recognize that he's not going to be able to dictate what his own kids do, let alone the actions of an entire school system.

My comments were based on the following:
1. Phones in schools have been causing problems.
2. This includes interruptions based on the high number of notifications: https://www.edweek.org/technology/students-get-hundreds-of-notifications-on-their-phones-every-day-even-at-school/2023/09)
3. Research is showing more and more that social media use seems to be harmful to early teens: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/
4. Some kids need to be able to contact their parent or caregiver

#1-3 has generated a lot of no-phone-whatsoever-in-schools.
I was trying to recommend a compromise (flip phones or the Light Phone) that can accommodate #4.
There are some inexpensive phones and plans for non-smartphones. The kids can use whatever outside of school, subject to what their parents want.

Chen is just digging in. This makes me like him even less. He doesn't get it at all. Who does he think he is to make a recommendation when he has not even gone through this himself with his own kids? Chen, get back to us when you have some lived experience when your own children actually get to this age.

+1

Or at least have some humility to admit you don’t really know.

Right, I want someone who will actually listen to parents who live this, not think they have all the answers and make policies based on their own ego.

I’m pretty sure we have heard time and time again from TEACHERS on this subject …and they all say they need the phones out of the classroom!

+100!!
Parents give kip service to teacher needs and teacher support; but when it's inconvenient for them personally (ie, I can't text johnny anytime I want), it doesn't matter what teachers say.

Larry Fishtahler had an interesting note about this: In the NAACP forum he shared that in his Science classes (I forget if it was physics or environmental science), he had students take pictures of the agenda on the board so they could reference it and share it with their parents. He also said that some of his fellow teachers straight up banned them. I think he was cautioning a "one size fits all" policy but he did specifically say that teachers who want to ban phones in the classroom should be given full support by the admin. Does Kathleen Clark have an opinion on this? I feel like she could go either way on cell phones.

This is an issue, when a couple of legitimate benefits of cellphones are used to say teachers can handle case by case. The reality is, once you bring them in, it then becomes unmanageable for everyone. While there may be some examples of phones benefitting instruction, the overall presence of cellphones in classrooms is a net negative. Students want a pic of the agenda? Teachers can post an image for everyone on class website. Very few real reasons to have phones in the classrooms and a plethora of reasons why they shouldn’t be. Schools don’t want to deal with it, so they instead pass the problem on to teachers to manage, citing examples like this as their rationale. Please listen to teachers currently in the classroom: they are a major distraction and they want them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chen Ling is commenting on Facebook now. His comments are very naive.

Commenting where? Please give an example of how he's naive.

Although his kids appear to be preschool/early elementary, he said, on a thread about cell phones, that when his kids are teenagers they won't be addicted to screens because he will make sure they only have flip phones

A parent of young kids telling parents of teenagers how to parent teenagers is second only to non-parents telling parents how to parent in terms of naivete--or maybe its worse, because if you are a parent, you should know what you don't know

Only naivete there, if he's a strong parent who actually adheres to his values and rules instead of caving like most, is assuming flip phones will still be available when his kids are teens. One can only hope that limited-capability phones do indeed become more popular over the next several years !

OK--I still think its a red flag. As a parent of boys, I would never give a girl mom advice on raising girls based on what I think I would do. I know how far I can apply my own experience and when I should listen to others. And since we're talking about someone who wants to be a politician, it matters that he's weighing in on things he hasn't experienced and doesn't have the awareness to recognize that he's not going to be able to dictate what his own kids do, let alone the actions of an entire school system.

My comments were based on the following:
1. Phones in schools have been causing problems.
2. This includes interruptions based on the high number of notifications: https://www.edweek.org/technology/students-get-hundreds-of-notifications-on-their-phones-every-day-even-at-school/2023/09)
3. Research is showing more and more that social media use seems to be harmful to early teens: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/
4. Some kids need to be able to contact their parent or caregiver

#1-3 has generated a lot of no-phone-whatsoever-in-schools.
I was trying to recommend a compromise (flip phones or the Light Phone) that can accommodate #4.
There are some inexpensive phones and plans for non-smartphones. The kids can use whatever outside of school, subject to what their parents want.

Chen is just digging in. This makes me like him even less. He doesn't get it at all. Who does he think he is to make a recommendation when he has not even gone through this himself with his own kids? Chen, get back to us when you have some lived experience when your own children actually get to this age.

+1

Or at least have some humility to admit you don’t really know.

Right, I want someone who will actually listen to parents who live this, not think they have all the answers and make policies based on their own ego.

I’m pretty sure we have heard time and time again from TEACHERS on this subject …and they all say they need the phones out of the classroom!

+100!!
Parents give kip service to teacher needs and teacher support; but when it's inconvenient for them personally (ie, I can't text johnny anytime I want), it doesn't matter what teachers say.

Larry Fishtahler had an interesting note about this: In the NAACP forum he shared that in his Science classes (I forget if it was physics or environmental science), he had students take pictures of the agenda on the board so they could reference it and share it with their parents. He also said that some of his fellow teachers straight up banned them. I think he was cautioning a "one size fits all" policy but he did specifically say that teachers who want to ban phones in the classroom should be given full support by the admin. Does Kathleen Clark have an opinion on this? I feel like she could go either way on cell phones.

This is an issue, when a couple of legitimate benefits of cellphones are used to say teachers can handle case by case. The reality is, once you bring them in, it then becomes unmanageable for everyone. While there may be some examples of phones benefitting instruction, the overall presence of cellphones in classrooms is a net negative. Students want a pic of the agenda? Teachers can post an image for everyone on class website. Very few real reasons to have phones in the classrooms and a plethora of reasons why they shouldn’t be. Schools don’t want to deal with it, so they instead pass the problem on to teachers to manage, citing examples like this as their rationale. Please listen to teachers currently in the classroom: they are a major distraction and they want them out.

"Please listen to teachers currently in the classroom." you say.

Also, ignore the guy who is a teacher in the classroom (Larry), who said to leave it up to the teachers, you say.

"Students want a pic of the agenda? Teachers can post an image for everyone on class website". It sounds like you want us to listen to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chen Ling is commenting on Facebook now. His comments are very naive.

Commenting where? Please give an example of how he's naive.

Although his kids appear to be preschool/early elementary, he said, on a thread about cell phones, that when his kids are teenagers they won't be addicted to screens because he will make sure they only have flip phones

A parent of young kids telling parents of teenagers how to parent teenagers is second only to non-parents telling parents how to parent in terms of naivete--or maybe its worse, because if you are a parent, you should know what you don't know

Only naivete there, if he's a strong parent who actually adheres to his values and rules instead of caving like most, is assuming flip phones will still be available when his kids are teens. One can only hope that limited-capability phones do indeed become more popular over the next several years !

OK--I still think its a red flag. As a parent of boys, I would never give a girl mom advice on raising girls based on what I think I would do. I know how far I can apply my own experience and when I should listen to others. And since we're talking about someone who wants to be a politician, it matters that he's weighing in on things he hasn't experienced and doesn't have the awareness to recognize that he's not going to be able to dictate what his own kids do, let alone the actions of an entire school system.

My comments were based on the following:
1. Phones in schools have been causing problems.
2. This includes interruptions based on the high number of notifications: https://www.edweek.org/technology/students-get-hundreds-of-notifications-on-their-phones-every-day-even-at-school/2023/09)
3. Research is showing more and more that social media use seems to be harmful to early teens: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/
4. Some kids need to be able to contact their parent or caregiver

#1-3 has generated a lot of no-phone-whatsoever-in-schools.
I was trying to recommend a compromise (flip phones or the Light Phone) that can accommodate #4.
There are some inexpensive phones and plans for non-smartphones. The kids can use whatever outside of school, subject to what their parents want.

Chen is just digging in. This makes me like him even less. He doesn't get it at all. Who does he think he is to make a recommendation when he has not even gone through this himself with his own kids? Chen, get back to us when you have some lived experience when your own children actually get to this age.

+1

Or at least have some humility to admit you don’t really know.

Right, I want someone who will actually listen to parents who live this, not think they have all the answers and make policies based on their own ego.

I’m pretty sure we have heard time and time again from TEACHERS on this subject …and they all say they need the phones out of the classroom!

+100!!
Parents give kip service to teacher needs and teacher support; but when it's inconvenient for them personally (ie, I can't text johnny anytime I want), it doesn't matter what teachers say.

Larry Fishtahler had an interesting note about this: In the NAACP forum he shared that in his Science classes (I forget if it was physics or environmental science), he had students take pictures of the agenda on the board so they could reference it and share it with their parents. He also said that some of his fellow teachers straight up banned them. I think he was cautioning a "one size fits all" policy but he did specifically say that teachers who want to ban phones in the classroom should be given full support by the admin. Does Kathleen Clark have an opinion on this? I feel like she could go either way on cell phones.

This is an issue, when a couple of legitimate benefits of cellphones are used to say teachers can handle case by case. The reality is, once you bring them in, it then becomes unmanageable for everyone. While there may be some examples of phones benefitting instruction, the overall presence of cellphones in classrooms is a net negative. Students want a pic of the agenda? Teachers can post an image for everyone on class website. Very few real reasons to have phones in the classrooms and a plethora of reasons why they shouldn’t be. Schools don’t want to deal with it, so they instead pass the problem on to teachers to manage, citing examples like this as their rationale. Please listen to teachers currently in the classroom: they are a major distraction and they want them out.

"Please listen to teachers currently in the classroom." you say.

Also, ignore the guy who is a teacher in the classroom (Larry), who said to leave it up to the teachers, you say.

"Students want a pic of the agenda? Teachers can post an image for everyone on class website". It sounds like you want us to listen to you.

Has APS conducted a poll for current teachers and admin to see their thoughts on devices being a net negative or positive?

What does the current research say about the overall impact on student learning? Are students overall benefiting from having them in the classroom?

Of course there are some merits of having a phone in class. But there are also lots of negatives so we really we need to consider what the overall impact is. And there are logistics of every policy. Can a teacher monitor what a couple of students are using their devices for? Maybe. But can they easily monitor device usage for a larger group, say 30 students at a time? What do teachers do when students don’t follow the policy? Crafting emails to parents and admin each time a device is misused takes away their planning time and attention to other tasks. Stopping class to constantly remind students about proper use takes away instruction time. So logistics are also important to consider.

What unique advantages are cellphones providing that cannot be accessed through other means?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chen Ling is commenting on Facebook now. His comments are very naive.

Commenting where? Please give an example of how he's naive.

Although his kids appear to be preschool/early elementary, he said, on a thread about cell phones, that when his kids are teenagers they won't be addicted to screens because he will make sure they only have flip phones

A parent of young kids telling parents of teenagers how to parent teenagers is second only to non-parents telling parents how to parent in terms of naivete--or maybe its worse, because if you are a parent, you should know what you don't know

Only naivete there, if he's a strong parent who actually adheres to his values and rules instead of caving like most, is assuming flip phones will still be available when his kids are teens. One can only hope that limited-capability phones do indeed become more popular over the next several years !

OK--I still think its a red flag. As a parent of boys, I would never give a girl mom advice on raising girls based on what I think I would do. I know how far I can apply my own experience and when I should listen to others. And since we're talking about someone who wants to be a politician, it matters that he's weighing in on things he hasn't experienced and doesn't have the awareness to recognize that he's not going to be able to dictate what his own kids do, let alone the actions of an entire school system.

My comments were based on the following:
1. Phones in schools have been causing problems.
2. This includes interruptions based on the high number of notifications: https://www.edweek.org/technology/students-get-hundreds-of-notifications-on-their-phones-every-day-even-at-school/2023/09)
3. Research is showing more and more that social media use seems to be harmful to early teens: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/
4. Some kids need to be able to contact their parent or caregiver

#1-3 has generated a lot of no-phone-whatsoever-in-schools.
I was trying to recommend a compromise (flip phones or the Light Phone) that can accommodate #4.
There are some inexpensive phones and plans for non-smartphones. The kids can use whatever outside of school, subject to what their parents want.

Chen is just digging in. This makes me like him even less. He doesn't get it at all. Who does he think he is to make a recommendation when he has not even gone through this himself with his own kids? Chen, get back to us when you have some lived experience when your own children actually get to this age.

+1

Or at least have some humility to admit you don’t really know.

Right, I want someone who will actually listen to parents who live this, not think they have all the answers and make policies based on their own ego.

I’m pretty sure we have heard time and time again from TEACHERS on this subject …and they all say they need the phones out of the classroom!

+100!!
Parents give kip service to teacher needs and teacher support; but when it's inconvenient for them personally (ie, I can't text johnny anytime I want), it doesn't matter what teachers say.

larry has said he has students who take pictures of assignment on the board on their phones. not all teachers are against phones in their classes, some see the good they can do.

Yeah - because there is no other possible way for the kids to record the assignments posted on the board....like writing it down on paper. Thank goodness for cell phones with cameras! Students would never know what their assignments are without them!

Sounds like you have a kid who does this perfectly, not all of us do.

That isn't the point. And btw, no I don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ChenLing wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chen Ling is commenting on Facebook now. His comments are very naive.

Commenting where? Please give an example of how he's naive.

Although his kids appear to be preschool/early elementary, he said, on a thread about cell phones, that when his kids are teenagers they won't be addicted to screens because he will make sure they only have flip phones

A parent of young kids telling parents of teenagers how to parent teenagers is second only to non-parents telling parents how to parent in terms of naivete--or maybe its worse, because if you are a parent, you should know what you don't know

Only naivete there, if he's a strong parent who actually adheres to his values and rules instead of caving like most, is assuming flip phones will still be available when his kids are teens. One can only hope that limited-capability phones do indeed become more popular over the next several years !

OK--I still think its a red flag. As a parent of boys, I would never give a girl mom advice on raising girls based on what I think I would do. I know how far I can apply my own experience and when I should listen to others. And since we're talking about someone who wants to be a politician, it matters that he's weighing in on things he hasn't experienced and doesn't have the awareness to recognize that he's not going to be able to dictate what his own kids do, let alone the actions of an entire school system.

My comments were based on the following:
1. Phones in schools have been causing problems.
2. This includes interruptions based on the high number of notifications: https://www.edweek.org/technology/students-get-hundreds-of-notifications-on-their-phones-every-day-even-at-school/2023/09)
3. Research is showing more and more that social media use seems to be harmful to early teens: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/
4. Some kids need to be able to contact their parent or caregiver

#1-3 has generated a lot of no-phone-whatsoever-in-schools.
I was trying to recommend a compromise (flip phones or the Light Phone) that can accommodate #4.
There are some inexpensive phones and plans for non-smartphones. The kids can use whatever outside of school, subject to what their parents want.

Chen is just digging in. This makes me like him even less. He doesn't get it at all. Who does he think he is to make a recommendation when he has not even gone through this himself with his own kids? Chen, get back to us when you have some lived experience when your own children actually get to this age.

+1

Or at least have some humility to admit you don’t really know.

Right, I want someone who will actually listen to parents who live this, not think they have all the answers and make policies based on their own ego.

I’m pretty sure we have heard time and time again from TEACHERS on this subject …and they all say they need the phones out of the classroom!

+100!!
Parents give kip service to teacher needs and teacher support; but when it's inconvenient for them personally (ie, I can't text johnny anytime I want), it doesn't matter what teachers say.

Larry Fishtahler had an interesting note about this: In the NAACP forum he shared that in his Science classes (I forget if it was physics or environmental science), he had students take pictures of the agenda on the board so they could reference it and share it with their parents. He also said that some of his fellow teachers straight up banned them. I think he was cautioning a "one size fits all" policy but he did specifically say that teachers who want to ban phones in the classroom should be given full support by the admin. Does Kathleen Clark have an opinion on this? I feel like she could go either way on cell phones.

This is an issue, when a couple of legitimate benefits of cellphones are used to say teachers can handle case by case. The reality is, once you bring them in, it then becomes unmanageable for everyone. While there may be some examples of phones benefitting instruction, the overall presence of cellphones in classrooms is a net negative. Students want a pic of the agenda? Teachers can post an image for everyone on class website. Very few real reasons to have phones in the classrooms and a plethora of reasons why they shouldn’t be. Schools don’t want to deal with it, so they instead pass the problem on to teachers to manage, citing examples like this as their rationale. Please listen to teachers currently in the classroom: they are a major distraction and they want them out.

+100
There are plusses and minuses to everything. When the minuses outweigh the benefits of the plusses, the minuses win.

[Anonymous]

On the topic of cellphones… was thinking this discussion was getting a little off track, and was honestly wondering who in the world wants to keep cellphones in the classroom other than maybe Facebook or Tik Tok or Snap Chat as they must be making $$$ off the clicks they get during the school day. But then saw this on Zuraya’s website:

“Previously I worked as the Manager of Public Policy and External Affairs for Meta (Facebook), where I shaped strategic partnerships with national advocacy groups”

Anyone know her stance on cellphones in schools?