Executive Order decreeing "cell-phone free" education in k-12

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oakton HS has no/few lockers to keep a phone in.

My kid said a teacher had a shoe pocket tree on the wall, and if they caught one student with a phone during class, the whole class had to go put their phones up, and if you didn't it was obvious who didn't as each pocket had a name on it for each period.

Next thing you know, some kid “accidentally” takes my kid’s $1,000 Smartphone from the pocket when leaving the period. Hell no. My kid is not putting their equipment in a fu$&ing shoe tree.

Then they should leave it at home. Easy solution.

Nope. They need it for after school. My kid doesn’t abuse their phone and it’s not necessary for them to put it in the communal shoe tree just become some other yahoo in class can’t control themselves. The kid who is using it in class should have to put it in the shoe tree. You don’t punish the entire class for one kid’s behavior.

Youngkin has "punished" the entire state.

Complain to him about your choice to get your DC an irreplaceable flagship phone.

For years parents have been complaining on this page about banning cell phones at school; do they not want it anymore?

I am the person who made the obviously sarcastic comment about the fake phone. I am a teacher and a parent.

I absolutely want schools to figure out how to handle cell phones so they aren't used in class. But every teacher I know who has experience with the shoe tree thing has found that it doesn't work. There are issues with kids worrying about their phone being stolen or getting lost, there are issues with kids using fake phones, and there are issues with enforcement. The reality is that the only solution that is going to work here is if teachers are backed up for enforcing the cell phone rule, and I feel as though this executive order is meaningless until they figure out how to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

For one thing, college is voluntary and high school is compulsory.

No it isn't. There is no requirement to attend HS after one's 16th birthday.

Unless you live in Virginia or another state that mandates kids stay in school till their 18th birthday.

VA has an exit process for 16-17.99 year olds

https://legal-info.lawyers.com/research/education-law/when-can-you-drop-out-of-school-in-virginia.html#:~:text=Under%20Virginia's%20%E2%80%9Ccompulsory%20education%E2%80%9D%20laws,getting%20high%20school%20equivalency%20certificates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time HS teacher here and this is how it’s going to play out with older kids. There will be meetings during the teacher workdays and we will need to have something in the syllabus. Admin will put together some unrealistic protocol, like we need to keep track of infractions ourself, give a certain number of warnings, on the whatever time email/call parents, then on the next time write a referral. Some teachers will stress over this and have complicated spreadsheets, write referrals only to find out no discipline happens.

Nothing will change in my class. I’ve always had a cell away rule. It’s usually not an issue. I will contact parents if they are ever cheating on a test or being disruptive. I will not if I see them send a quick text. No one has time for that and most of the time, the parents are texting their own kids.

This and admin will do nothing but expect teachers to do it all-as usual.

Teachers will have to do their jobs, waah waah waah.

Not my job to deal with your kid's phone. They're free to stay on it and learn nothing while I teach those who are in my class for a good reason.

This is how it should be. In college no one is taking phones, those who want to learn, learn. Those who don't, won't.

But high school is not college. For one thing, college is voluntary and high school is compulsory. Also, college students are older with more maturity and self control (and financial ownership) than younger students.

If your child is not mature enough, and doesn’t have the self-control to have a phone at school, then keep the phone at home. If you know that your child cannot resist the temptation, then keep the phone at home.

If a student is not mature enough to behave properly including not using his phone, then the techer steps in.

I'm so confused by these posts from teachers who have no desire to have control over their classroom. Bewildering.

What do you want us to do after we’ve asked three times? I’m not wasting more instructional time. What solution are you offering?

I think it’s terrible you have to ask three times. I wish you could kick a kid out of class the first time you see him or her on the phone. Let the kids who want to learn, learn, and forget about the rest. In a true emergency, the parent will call the school office.

Right? I only want to teach the easy kids. The hard kids, I don't want to bother with them.

Teaching is a different job from parenting. Feral children need special civilization program, not regular school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oakton HS has no/few lockers to keep a phone in.

My kid said a teacher had a shoe pocket tree on the wall, and if they caught one student with a phone during class, the whole class had to go put their phones up, and if you didn't it was obvious who didn't as each pocket had a name on it for each period.

Next thing you know, some kid “accidentally” takes my kid’s $1,000 Smartphone from the pocket when leaving the period. Hell no. My kid is not putting their equipment in a fu$&ing shoe tree.

Then they should leave it at home. Easy solution.

Nope. They need it for after school. My kid doesn’t abuse their phone and it’s not necessary for them to put it in the communal shoe tree just become some other yahoo in class can’t control themselves. The kid who is using it in class should have to put it in the shoe tree. You don’t punish the entire class for one kid’s behavior.

Youngkin has "punished" the entire state.

Complain to him about your choice to get your DC an irreplaceable flagship phone.

For years parents have been complaining on this page about banning cell phones at school; do they not want it anymore?

I am the person who made the obviously sarcastic comment about the fake phone. I am a teacher and a parent.

I absolutely want schools to figure out how to handle cell phones so they aren't used in class. But every teacher I know who has experience with the shoe tree thing has found that it doesn't work. There are issues with kids worrying about their phone being stolen or getting lost, there are issues with kids using fake phones, and there are issues with enforcement. The reality is that the only solution that is going to work here is if teachers are backed up for enforcing the cell phone rule, and I feel as though this executive order is meaningless until they figure out how to do that.

I agree with you. In regards to cell phones, this year will look just like last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oakton HS has no/few lockers to keep a phone in.

My kid said a teacher had a shoe pocket tree on the wall, and if they caught one student with a phone during class, the whole class had to go put their phones up, and if you didn't it was obvious who didn't as each pocket had a name on it for each period.

Next thing you know, some kid “accidentally” takes my kid’s $1,000 Smartphone from the pocket when leaving the period. Hell no. My kid is not putting their equipment in a fu$&ing shoe tree.

Then they should leave it at home. Easy solution.

Nope. They need it for after school. My kid doesn’t abuse their phone and it’s not necessary for them to put it in the communal shoe tree just become some other yahoo in class can’t control themselves. The kid who is using it in class should have to put it in the shoe tree. You don’t punish the entire class for one kid’s behavior.

Youngkin has "punished" the entire state.

Complain to him about your choice to get your DC an irreplaceable flagship phone.

Youngkin has done no such thing.

He has mandated that the school board and schools design a plan for cell phone sanity in education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time HS teacher here and this is how it’s going to play out with older kids. There will be meetings during the teacher workdays and we will need to have something in the syllabus. Admin will put together some unrealistic protocol, like we need to keep track of infractions ourself, give a certain number of warnings, on the whatever time email/call parents, then on the next time write a referral. Some teachers will stress over this and have complicated spreadsheets, write referrals only to find out no discipline happens.

Nothing will change in my class. I’ve always had a cell away rule. It’s usually not an issue. I will contact parents if they are ever cheating on a test or being disruptive. I will not if I see them send a quick text. No one has time for that and most of the time, the parents are texting their own kids.

This and admin will do nothing but expect teachers to do it all-as usual.

Teachers will have to do their jobs, waah waah waah.

Not my job to deal with your kid's phone. They're free to stay on it and learn nothing while I teach those who are in my class for a good reason.

Your lack of compassion for the other students they are disrupting is gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time HS teacher here and this is how it’s going to play out with older kids. There will be meetings during the teacher workdays and we will need to have something in the syllabus. Admin will put together some unrealistic protocol, like we need to keep track of infractions ourself, give a certain number of warnings, on the whatever time email/call parents, then on the next time write a referral. Some teachers will stress over this and have complicated spreadsheets, write referrals only to find out no discipline happens.

Nothing will change in my class. I’ve always had a cell away rule. It’s usually not an issue. I will contact parents if they are ever cheating on a test or being disruptive. I will not if I see them send a quick text. No one has time for that and most of the time, the parents are texting their own kids.

This and admin will do nothing but expect teachers to do it all-as usual.

Teachers will have to do their jobs, waah waah waah.

Not my job to deal with your kid's phone. They're free to stay on it and learn nothing while I teach those who are in my class for a good reason.

Your lack of compassion for the other students they are disrupting is gross.

Have you seen this in the classroom? They’re distracting themselves, rarely others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time HS teacher here and this is how it’s going to play out with older kids. There will be meetings during the teacher workdays and we will need to have something in the syllabus. Admin will put together some unrealistic protocol, like we need to keep track of infractions ourself, give a certain number of warnings, on the whatever time email/call parents, then on the next time write a referral. Some teachers will stress over this and have complicated spreadsheets, write referrals only to find out no discipline happens.

Nothing will change in my class. I’ve always had a cell away rule. It’s usually not an issue. I will contact parents if they are ever cheating on a test or being disruptive. I will not if I see them send a quick text. No one has time for that and most of the time, the parents are texting their own kids.

This and admin will do nothing but expect teachers to do it all-as usual.

Teachers will have to do their jobs, waah waah waah.

Not my job to deal with your kid's phone. They're free to stay on it and learn nothing while I teach those who are in my class for a good reason.

Your lack of compassion for the other students they are disrupting is gross.

The teachers are saying that they are prioritizing the other students by focusing on the instruction. They are de-prioritizing the unfocused, disrespectful student that won’t put their phone away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time HS teacher here and this is how it’s going to play out with older kids. There will be meetings during the teacher workdays and we will need to have something in the syllabus. Admin will put together some unrealistic protocol, like we need to keep track of infractions ourself, give a certain number of warnings, on the whatever time email/call parents, then on the next time write a referral. Some teachers will stress over this and have complicated spreadsheets, write referrals only to find out no discipline happens.

Nothing will change in my class. I’ve always had a cell away rule. It’s usually not an issue. I will contact parents if they are ever cheating on a test or being disruptive. I will not if I see them send a quick text. No one has time for that and most of the time, the parents are texting their own kids.

This and admin will do nothing but expect teachers to do it all-as usual.

Teachers will have to do their jobs, waah waah waah.

Not my job to deal with your kid's phone. They're free to stay on it and learn nothing while I teach those who are in my class for a good reason.

Your lack of compassion for the other students they are disrupting is gross.

They're not disrupting them. They're just drugging themselves.
My test scores are well above benchmarks. The students who were on their phones a lot failed. Such is life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oakton HS has no/few lockers to keep a phone in.

My kid said a teacher had a shoe pocket tree on the wall, and if they caught one student with a phone during class, the whole class had to go put their phones up, and if you didn't it was obvious who didn't as each pocket had a name on it for each period.

Next thing you know, some kid “accidentally” takes my kid’s $1,000 Smartphone from the pocket when leaving the period. Hell no. My kid is not putting their equipment in a fu$&ing shoe tree.

Then they should leave it at home. Easy solution.

Nope. They need it for after school. My kid doesn’t abuse their phone and it’s not necessary for them to put it in the communal shoe tree just become some other yahoo in class can’t control themselves. The kid who is using it in class should have to put it in the shoe tree. You don’t punish the entire class for one kid’s behavior.

Youngkin has "punished" the entire state.

Complain to him about your choice to get your DC an irreplaceable flagship phone.

Youngkin has done no such thing.

He has mandated that the school board and schools design a plan for cell phone sanity in education.

FCPS will report that they are already in compliance, they have a cell phone policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time HS teacher here and this is how it’s going to play out with older kids. There will be meetings during the teacher workdays and we will need to have something in the syllabus. Admin will put together some unrealistic protocol, like we need to keep track of infractions ourself, give a certain number of warnings, on the whatever time email/call parents, then on the next time write a referral. Some teachers will stress over this and have complicated spreadsheets, write referrals only to find out no discipline happens.

Nothing will change in my class. I’ve always had a cell away rule. It’s usually not an issue. I will contact parents if they are ever cheating on a test or being disruptive. I will not if I see them send a quick text. No one has time for that and most of the time, the parents are texting their own kids.

This and admin will do nothing but expect teachers to do it all-as usual.

Teachers will have to do their jobs, waah waah waah.

Not my job to deal with your kid's phone. They're free to stay on it and learn nothing while I teach those who are in my class for a good reason.

Your lack of compassion for the other students they are disrupting is gross.

The teachers are saying that they are prioritizing the other students by focusing on the instruction. They are de-prioritizing the unfocused, disrespectful student that won’t put their phone away.

If teachers and their administration would enforce the existing cell phone ban, maybe these kids would learn something, too. Rather than being written off because of the failure of the school to enforce the ban

You are blaming the students, and punishing them by letting them learn nothing, because the school is not doing its job. Youngkin has figured this out. But principals haven't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time HS teacher here and this is how it’s going to play out with older kids. There will be meetings during the teacher workdays and we will need to have something in the syllabus. Admin will put together some unrealistic protocol, like we need to keep track of infractions ourself, give a certain number of warnings, on the whatever time email/call parents, then on the next time write a referral. Some teachers will stress over this and have complicated spreadsheets, write referrals only to find out no discipline happens.

Nothing will change in my class. I’ve always had a cell away rule. It’s usually not an issue. I will contact parents if they are ever cheating on a test or being disruptive. I will not if I see them send a quick text. No one has time for that and most of the time, the parents are texting their own kids.

This and admin will do nothing but expect teachers to do it all-as usual.

Teachers will have to do their jobs, waah waah waah.

Not my job to deal with your kid's phone. They're free to stay on it and learn nothing while I teach those who are in my class for a good reason.

Your lack of compassion for the other students they are disrupting is gross.

They're not disrupting them. They're just drugging themselves.
My test scores are well above benchmarks. The students who were on their phones a lot failed. Such is life.

If they would have done better but for the phone, then the school has failed the student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oakton HS has no/few lockers to keep a phone in.

My kid said a teacher had a shoe pocket tree on the wall, and if they caught one student with a phone during class, the whole class had to go put their phones up, and if you didn't it was obvious who didn't as each pocket had a name on it for each period.

Next thing you know, some kid “accidentally” takes my kid’s $1,000 Smartphone from the pocket when leaving the period. Hell no. My kid is not putting their equipment in a fu$&ing shoe tree.

Then they should leave it at home. Easy solution.

Nope. They need it for after school. My kid doesn’t abuse their phone and it’s not necessary for them to put it in the communal shoe tree just become some other yahoo in class can’t control themselves. The kid who is using it in class should have to put it in the shoe tree. You don’t punish the entire class for one kid’s behavior.

Youngkin has "punished" the entire state.

Complain to him about your choice to get your DC an irreplaceable flagship phone.

Youngkin has done no such thing.

He has mandated that the school board and schools design a plan for cell phone sanity in education.

And the plan shouldn’t be store your phone in a shoe tree if someone else is using their phone inappropriately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time HS teacher here and this is how it’s going to play out with older kids. There will be meetings during the teacher workdays and we will need to have something in the syllabus. Admin will put together some unrealistic protocol, like we need to keep track of infractions ourself, give a certain number of warnings, on the whatever time email/call parents, then on the next time write a referral. Some teachers will stress over this and have complicated spreadsheets, write referrals only to find out no discipline happens.

Nothing will change in my class. I’ve always had a cell away rule. It’s usually not an issue. I will contact parents if they are ever cheating on a test or being disruptive. I will not if I see them send a quick text. No one has time for that and most of the time, the parents are texting their own kids.

This and admin will do nothing but expect teachers to do it all-as usual.

Teachers will have to do their jobs, waah waah waah.

Not my job to deal with your kid's phone. They're free to stay on it and learn nothing while I teach those who are in my class for a good reason.

Your lack of compassion for the other students they are disrupting is gross.

The teachers are saying that they are prioritizing the other students by focusing on the instruction. They are de-prioritizing the unfocused, disrespectful student that won’t put their phone away.

If teachers and their administration would enforce the existing cell phone ban, maybe these kids would learn something, too. Rather than being written off because of the failure of the school to enforce the ban

You are blaming the students, and punishing them by letting them learn nothing, because the school is not doing its job. Youngkin has figured this out. But principals haven't.

You clearly have no idea what you’re talking about. All the students have to do is put their phone away when asked. Is that too hard? No. They are punishing themselves by breaking the rules. The consequence for not following the rules is there going to miss important information in the lesson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time HS teacher here and this is how it’s going to play out with older kids. There will be meetings during the teacher workdays and we will need to have something in the syllabus. Admin will put together some unrealistic protocol, like we need to keep track of infractions ourself, give a certain number of warnings, on the whatever time email/call parents, then on the next time write a referral. Some teachers will stress over this and have complicated spreadsheets, write referrals only to find out no discipline happens.

Nothing will change in my class. I’ve always had a cell away rule. It’s usually not an issue. I will contact parents if they are ever cheating on a test or being disruptive. I will not if I see them send a quick text. No one has time for that and most of the time, the parents are texting their own kids.

This and admin will do nothing but expect teachers to do it all-as usual.

Teachers will have to do their jobs, waah waah waah.

Not my job to deal with your kid's phone. They're free to stay on it and learn nothing while I teach those who are in my class for a good reason.

Your lack of compassion for the other students they are disrupting is gross.

They're not disrupting them. They're just drugging themselves.
My test scores are well above benchmarks. The students who were on their phones a lot failed. Such is life.

If they would have done better but for the phone, then the school has failed the student.

Maybe the parent should have them keep the phone at home. YOU, as a parent, can EASILY resolve this problem. The teacher told me my student was failing because they didn’t get off the phone, then that phone would be taken away immediately.

Stop blaming FCPS for something a parent could resolve in 60 seconds. Kids don’t need them. It’s a convenience, not a necessity.