MCPS cell phone restriction program shows promising changes, staff say

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It has been so much better this year at Silver Creek with the ban than last year. They put a lot of effort into enforcement early in the year -- seizing lots of cell phones and making parents pick them up after the first offense. There is a marked difference this year.

We are at a different pilot MS and agree things have been better this year with the pilot. Most kids still use the phone at lunch because they are too addicted not to, but it’s better overall.

Our ES is now having conflicts after school when all the fourth and fifth grade kids turn their phones on and walk home. I hate that people would hand a nine year old a phone! So dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do substitite teachers enforce no phones? Or are they also using theirs when they sub?

Probably not but this gives them something to do. These days education is a low priority compared to punishing kids and making schools more prison like.

Schools are prison-like because there are little to no enforced rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is illegal to confiscate private property. These busy bodies need to mind their beeswax!

My kids are in a school with this program. Teachers provide pouches/containers for phones - no one is confiscating anything.

One of the most interesting things was that the teachers said the people who send kids the most texts during the day? Parents. That made a lot of sense to me - kids see each other during the day. It made me stop and assess my own behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I refuse to touch a student's phone as it may cause an actual meltdown I am not equipped to handle. Also, I'm not prepared to deal with the fallout if said phone gets damaged or lost on my watch. No thanks.

What if students themselves place the phone inside a pouch before it is given to the teacher or front office which holds it until parents come in? How could it be damaged?

Have the participating schools actually been able to enforce consequences? are kids at those schools using it in the hallways as they go to the bathroom to use it some more in bathroom?

That’s how it’s done in my kids’ school. Student puts phone away. Some teachers even use clear containers since people (kids and adults) get twitchy when they can’t see their phone with someone else.

[Anonymous]

It’s not confiscating if the kid/family gets it back at the end of the day.

Phones are a huge issue in schools. All the research is very damning about the problems they are causing in schools. Kids and parents are often addicted.

[Anonymous]

I like how it’s done in my kid’s school—cellular service is blocked and I can’t get wifi either. So the kids are paying attention and not walking around staring at phones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like how it’s done in my kid’s school—cellular service is blocked and I can’t get wifi either. So the kids are paying attention and not walking around staring at phones.

That also poses a safety risk for emergency comms tho. Also, how can the Wi-Fi be blocked if kids need it for their Chromebooks and teachers need it for their computers and interactive whiteboards?

[Anonymous]

BCC loves it because there is less footage of the fights in the hallways.
If there is footage, BCC is happy to focus on that rather than the fight itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like how it’s done in my kid’s school—cellular service is blocked and I can’t get wifi either. So the kids are paying attention and not walking around staring at phones.

Check in with us after there is a school shooting and MCPS doesn't communicate with anyone. They are notoriously bad during a crisis.

(I'll tell you about the good old days when you could text your kid crying in the closet to tell them the police on tv say there is no more threat and they told their teacher and friends who had no idea)

[Anonymous]

Remember that on teacher who got pepper sprayed when he took a phone to control his class. Or what about that one teacher who was knocked out cold and head stomped when she took the video games. This is what happens when admin is all about waste fraud and abuse instead of discussing on security. It seems the wfa people are the ones being groomed to teach their wfa skills as admin and directors. Teachers that want violence under control are fired, hacked, and they even lie to the unemployment office to take your money, food , and shelter away from you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is illegal to confiscate private property. These busy bodies need to mind their beeswax!

My kids are in a school with this program. Teachers provide pouches/containers for phones - no one is confiscating anything.

One of the most interesting things was that the teachers said the people who send kids the most texts during the day? Parents. That made a lot of sense to me - kids see each other during the day. It made me stop and assess my own behavior.

What are parents texting about??: Did Mr.Larlo yell today in class? Did Mrs.Larla take out her own personal phone from her back pocket 10 times during class to check or text her own children?

[Anonymous]

How about Admin? Are they on their personal phones during school day? Does the ban or away program apply to them also?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is illegal to confiscate private property. These busy bodies need to mind their beeswax!

My kids are in a school with this program. Teachers provide pouches/containers for phones - no one is confiscating anything.

One of the most interesting things was that the teachers said the people who send kids the most texts during the day? Parents. That made a lot of sense to me - kids see each other during the day. It made me stop and assess my own behavior.

What are parents texting about??: Did Mr.Larlo yell today in class? Did Mrs.Larla take out her own personal phone from her back pocket 10 times during class to check or text her own children?

Parents are constantly texting their kids. It’s unbelievable. And HS kids are smart enough to say it’s a home emergency and my mom is texting me when the teacher asks kid to put their phone away. It’s always a friggin emergency apparently

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought the article and the pilot were not very compelling since it cherry picked two of the eight schools participating in the pilot, rather than getting a wider variety of perspectives and experiences.

I'm also underwhelmed and unimpressed by the lack of rigor and tangible metrics behind the pilot. MCPS does not know what it's doing when it comes to this stuff and no one seems to demand the level of professionalism and seriousness that you would expect from a school system of our size.

Agreed

+100

Next week, another participating school (Eastern) will start collecting all students phones at 8:00 am. It would be interesting to have a follow up article.

[Anonymous]

My kid is at eastern and doesn't seem to mind the plan. They don't check during the school day anyway. We do text but only when the pick up situation changes since we're in Bethesda. I'm all for collecting phones. Too distracting. And for anyone bit**ing and moaning remember when your kid was in ES? You just call the school/email the teacher if something comes up. It is fine and the world hasn't ended.