Getting phones out of classrooms

[Anonymous]

Hi MCPS parents:

I hope you'll consider signing this letter of support for an "Away All Day" cell phone policy: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9PxONQlAumVvvUyUqbxHjyykRipMXiILJlzFgc1xPzJE4cA/viewform

MCPS is already behind the growing wave of districts nationwide (and worldwide) that have ruled students should not have access to phones during the school day. (Including Howard County, MD, and all of VA.) Our kids' safety, learning, and socio-emotional outcomes will benefit from this change. As just one example, US students' academic skills increased steadily for 50 years until the widespread introduction of smartphones in 2012, and have been declining ever since. We need to reverse this change.

None of us needed phones in schools as kids and would have found the idea of having constant access to a phone, messaging, video games, and movies throughout the school day ridiculous. Because it is!

If you would like to see for yourself what changes a policy like this yields, please watch this short Today Show clip about the "away all day" policy enacted in the Dayton County public schools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItnhWeP-om4

[Anonymous]

Any idea how many families support this at YOUR school?

[Anonymous]

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(25)00003-1/fulltext

[Anonymous]

NO. How about you parent your kids and you decide whats best for them and let us parent our kids and decide whats best for our kids. There are so many issues in MCPS. How is this your priority? How about fixing safety first?

[Anonymous]

Why is there no name or organization listed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is there no name or organization listed?

Maybe they fear it will get political.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is there no name or organization listed?

Maybe they fear it will get political.?

They need to list who they are. I'm assuming its the MCCPTA person who posts it constantly but they have far bigger issues to worry about, like safety.

[Anonymous]

OP here: I'm the mom of a 9th grader at Blair, and this was shared with me by a Whitman mom. It's just a grassroots effort from a bunch of MCPS parents trying to gather support.

[Anonymous]

I signed it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I'm the mom of a 9th grader at Blair, and this was shared with me by a Whitman mom. It's just a grassroots effort from a bunch of MCPS parents trying to gather support.

Why not list their names? Why do others feel they have to police what other families do? The kids will just use their chromebooks.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for posting, OP! Just signed. We have a middle schooler and the phones are already a huge problem at school. I imagine it is even worse in HS.

[Anonymous]

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I'm the mom of a 9th grader at Blair, and this was shared with me by a Whitman mom. It's just a grassroots effort from a bunch of MCPS parents trying to gather support.

Why not list their names? Why do others feel they have to police what other families do? The kids will just use their chromebooks.

And many kids use own laptop

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NO. How about you parent your kids and you decide whats best for them and let us parent our kids and decide whats best for our kids. There are so many issues in MCPS. How is this your priority? How about fixing safety first?

NP - please. Any parent who thinks it’s a good idea for their kids to have unfettered access to their phones during the school day has piss-poor judgment. Moreover, we can have multiple priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NO. How about you parent your kids and you decide whats best for them and let us parent our kids and decide whats best for our kids. There are so many issues in MCPS. How is this your priority? How about fixing safety first?

Schools are safer when kids don’t have phones.