possible cell phone policy change
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Anonymous
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My kids are in 6th and 3rd and I'm not very aware yet of the cell phone usage in schools. When I read the newly proposed policy I was surprised it wasn't already in place that way. To me, admittedly with young kids who don't yet have a phone, this is a no brainer policy. What are the arguments for letting students use phones during instructional time? I saw some parents saying kids with anxiety or ADHD need them and I'd like more info about how they help kids like these.
Cell Phones 1. Elementary School-phones must be silenced and in backpacks for the duration of the school day. They may be utilized on campus only before and after school. Teachers may allow usage of cell phones for instructional activities where they are the most appropriate tool, however one-to-one FCPS devices should meet most needs. 2. Middle School-phones must be silenced and kept put away for the duration of the school day. Storage may be in a locker, backpack, pencil bag, etc., during the day. Teachers may allow usage of cell phone for instructional activities where they are the most appropriate tool, however one-to-one FCPS devices should meet most needs. Cell phones may be used on campus before the first bell and after the last bell. 3. High School-phones must be silenced and kept put away during all instructional periods. Storage may be in a locker, backpack, pencil bag, etc., during classes. Teachers may allow usage of cell phone for instructional activities where they are the most appropriate tool, however one-to-one FCPS devices should meet most needs. Cell phones may be used on campus before the first bell, after the last bell, during passing periods, and lunches. |
Anonymous
| Is this an actual change? I think the problem is (at least at the high school level) that many teachers have given up the fight. Kid takes out cell phone, teacher says put it away, kid keeps using it, teacher takes it from student and keeps it for the rest of the class period, student complains to parent, parent sends a nasty message to teacher. Repeat 100 times over the course of the school year. Teacher gives up. |
Anonymous
| The problem is my kids use them in school everyday for instructional use. Usually can’t get on the school wifi with their school issued laptops or need to visit a site banned by FCPS. |
Anonymous
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Kids are misusing them. How much of the in-class usage actually ends up being texting friends, looking at Tik Tok and so on as opposed to checking a fact on Wikipedia?
Our APS middle school has tightened rules even further once it became clear kids were using them inappropriately in school. |
Anonymous
| I'm a high school teacher and I have given up. Kids are going to play games, text, etc. If they don't do the work I just give them an F. Most kids are good, but some definitely can't handle it. |
Anonymous
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Kids with anxiety and adhd would probably benefit from putting the cell phones away. As someone with anxiety AND ADHD myself, social media or news can be triggering for me.
Kids need to put away their phones and be in the moment. I can't believe we somehow got to a place where phone usage is allowed during class time. |
Anonymous
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As a mom of a MS where phones are not allowed - FCPS MS, I was shocked to learn that was not the case at the zoned HS. My DD has ADHD and she needs her phone to not be allowed. I hope this changes by the time she starts next year.
That said, I disagree with punishments that go on a record for phone use (detention, etc...). The punishment for a phone out should be the phone gets taken and only a parent or guardian can come retrieve it from the school. |
Anonymous
What? It's not the school's job to police your kid's phone use. Don't give her a phone, give her a dumb phone, turn it off during school hours, i don't know--but don't you think this should be mom and dad's rule, not something else added onto teacher's plates? |
Anonymous
It's the schools job to provide an effective learning environment for our students. That means put the phones away! |
Anonymous
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I won't touch a kid's phone for fear of liability if it is lost/broken/stolen while it is in my possession before I can get it to the front office, or if they're texting each other naked photos and I accidentally see one flash on the screen, or because it will create a power struggle in class that i have zero desire to instigate.
If the whole school goes phone free my job would become 1000000x easier, but then there need to be serious, enforced consequences for phones that are out during class--not just "it gets taken away for the day"--that's not motivating enough to prevent it happening again. |
Anonymous
| This was trialed at Herndon MS and Herndon HS this year. Very successfully, supposedly. How did the schools do it, what support did the schools provide to teachers to enforce this? |
Anonymous
Obviously this is an insurmountable problem. |
Anonymous
| I am not arguing for use in class but I can at least see that a phone is also a calculator. That could be an appropriate tool. I do not envy teachers dealing with this though! I can limit my kids usage so they still have it to communicate with me as needed (e.g. transportation, activities). |
Anonymous
We have class sets of calculators, phones are unnecessary in that regard. |
Anonymous
And I'd rather buy my kid (and anyone elses') a $6 calculator from amazon than use it as an excuse for kids to be on their phones during class time. |