New cell phone policy for 2026-2027

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Had a chat with my kid last night about giving her the chance to make her own decisions and live with the consequences, self-policing addictive behaviors, not being stupid and how not to get caught. Have fun with this meaningless debate.

+1 FCPS is not capable of enforcing this. Putting the ban in place isn't going to do much. Either people on this board don't remember being teenagers or they were very boring teenagers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had a chat with my kid last night about giving her the chance to make her own decisions and live with the consequences, self-policing addictive behaviors, not being stupid and how not to get caught. Have fun with this meaningless debate.

+1 FCPS is not capable of enforcing this. Putting the ban in place isn't going to do much. Either people on this board don't remember being teenagers or they were very boring teenagers.

Boring is good. I think most parents would take boring any day of the week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had a chat with my kid last night about giving her the chance to make her own decisions and live with the consequences, self-policing addictive behaviors, not being stupid and how not to get caught. Have fun with this meaningless debate.

+1 FCPS is not capable of enforcing this. Putting the ban in place isn't going to do much. Either people on this board don't remember being teenagers or they were very boring teenagers.

Boring is good. I think most parents would take boring any day of the week.

Ugh, how sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had a chat with my kid last night about giving her the chance to make her own decisions and live with the consequences, self-policing addictive behaviors, not being stupid and how not to get caught. Have fun with this meaningless debate.

+1 FCPS is not capable of enforcing this. Putting the ban in place isn't going to do much. Either people on this board don't remember being teenagers or they were very boring teenagers.

Boring is good. I think most parents would take boring any day of the week.

Oh will your kids make up for it in college

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Now high school kids can’t even use their phone at lunch. Are you kidding me?? How ridiculous.

Did an insecure parent or phone dependent-student start this gripe thread? Hard to know the difference really.

No, a parent with common sense. Kids sometimes need to text their parents and vice versa for whatever reason. It’s not a crime.

Somehow in the way back times, people survived high school without the ability to text parents and vice versa. How ever did we all survive????

The world wasn’t digitized then. We have evolved. Sometimes we need to send a quick text about after school plans to our child and it’s super easy and convenient and you know they will get the message. When my child was in middle school I was constantly emailing his last period teacher about changes in dismissal plans and it was nerve wracking not knowing if she would check the message or remember to give it. Now that we have texting we should be able to use it to communicate with our kids. Lunch is the perfect time for them to read it. I really donut see the need to take them away at lunch. The cafeteria is probably quieter too.

This sounds like a YOU problem. I've NEVER had to contact anyone at either of my children's schools about last minute changes to their dismissal plans. There have been a few time when my middle schooler has had an after school program cancelled and she came home on the bus instead of needing to be picked up, but she texted me at the end of the day and used her key to let herself in when she got home.

So in that case the school communicated to your child that the after school program got cancelled. My child didn’t know the after school private lesson got cancelled because the instructor contacted me to cancel. I would then call the school to tell them but they told me to email the last period teacher. That was the only way my child knew to catch the bus home isntead. Explain to me how else this could have been done.

You text your kid, and kid turns on their phone at 3:00 and sees it. They don't need to see it at noon.

By the time they see it they would have missed the bus. And my child actually didn’t get a phone until a few months in during 8th grade. So no, I don’t actually have an addicted to a phone kid because we waited until 8th and had strict rules.

Then they are slow. Buses don’t leave until 10-15 minutes after the bell rings.

3:00, bell rings
3:01, phone is turned on
3:02, text appears telling her to take the bus

If she can’t make it outside to the bus in 8-13 minutes, there are bigger issues. What is blocking her/slowing her down? There are no longer lockers at most schools, so kids literally are outside within 1-2 minutes of the bell ringing even at my monstrous school.

But also, families had no issue handling this before phones. If after school plans change (kid needs to ride the bus vs get picked up), you just call the school. They will send a note to the classroom for the child with one of the zillions of office assistant kids. There are policies in place that work fine, and they will work fine next year too.

You didn’t read the thread, did you? I explained that this was before the phone and the office actually would not send a message. They literally told me to email the last period teacher to tell the change in dismissal plans.

I'm sorry but what was your point anyway? Why does your kid need a phone? Does he still have the same unreliable tutor?

It was a private lesson for an instrument. Those can sometimes get cancelled last minute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had a chat with my kid last night about giving her the chance to make her own decisions and live with the consequences, self-policing addictive behaviors, not being stupid and how not to get caught. Have fun with this meaningless debate.

+1 FCPS is not capable of enforcing this. Putting the ban in place isn't going to do much. Either people on this board don't remember being teenagers or they were very boring teenagers.

Boring is good. I think most parents would take boring any day of the week.

Ugh, how sad.

You think phone addiction is exciting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had a chat with my kid last night about giving her the chance to make her own decisions and live with the consequences, self-policing addictive behaviors, not being stupid and how not to get caught. Have fun with this meaningless debate.

+1 FCPS is not capable of enforcing this. Putting the ban in place isn't going to do much. Either people on this board don't remember being teenagers or they were very boring teenagers.

Boring is good. I think most parents would take boring any day of the week.

Ugh, how sad.

You think phone addiction is exciting?

I'm sorry your kids can't use a phone without being addicted. You maybe shouldn't buy them one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had a chat with my kid last night about giving her the chance to make her own decisions and live with the consequences, self-policing addictive behaviors, not being stupid and how not to get caught. Have fun with this meaningless debate.

+1 FCPS is not capable of enforcing this. Putting the ban in place isn't going to do much. Either people on this board don't remember being teenagers or they were very boring teenagers.

Boring is good. I think most parents would take boring any day of the week.

Ugh, how sad.

You think phone addiction is exciting?

I'm sorry your kids can't use a phone without being addicted. You maybe shouldn't buy them one?

My kids are irrelevant to this discussion. You, however, seem to think yours need their phone 24/7, or else...what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now high school kids can’t even use their phone at lunch. Are you kidding me?? How ridiculous.

Did an insecure parent or phone dependent-student start this gripe thread? Hard to know the difference really.

No, a parent with common sense. Kids sometimes need to text their parents and vice versa for whatever reason. It’s not a crime.

Somehow in the way back times, people survived high school without the ability to text parents and vice versa. How ever did we all survive????

The world wasn’t digitized then. We have evolved. Sometimes we need to send a quick text about after school plans to our child and it’s super easy and convenient and you know they will get the message. When my child was in middle school I was constantly emailing his last period teacher about changes in dismissal plans and it was nerve wracking not knowing if she would check the message or remember to give it. Now that we have texting we should be able to use it to communicate with our kids. Lunch is the perfect time for them to read it. I really donut see the need to take them away at lunch. The cafeteria is probably quieter too.

This sounds like a YOU problem. I've NEVER had to contact anyone at either of my children's schools about last minute changes to their dismissal plans. There have been a few time when my middle schooler has had an after school program cancelled and she came home on the bus instead of needing to be picked up, but she texted me at the end of the day and used her key to let herself in when she got home.

So in that case the school communicated to your child that the after school program got cancelled. My child didn’t know the after school private lesson got cancelled because the instructor contacted me to cancel. I would then call the school to tell them but they told me to email the last period teacher. That was the only way my child knew to catch the bus home isntead. Explain to me how else this could have been done.

You text your kid, and kid turns on their phone at 3:00 and sees it. They don't need to see it at noon.

I have to constantly check my cellphone as part of my job. It’s time we accepted that kids’ use of Snapchat and instagram is part of training for their future jobs. We’re expected to be able to toggle between emails and texts and paying attention in meetings at work. When kids are texting and playing games during a lecture at school they’re learning essential skills that they’ll have to be able to apply in the real world. Paying attention to a class without any distractions actually probably harms their ability to develop skills at multitasking.

Oh my. You are equating Snapchat, Instagram, and computer games to work-related tasks an adult needs to complete? Are you serious?

I'm sure every time you check your phone during the day it's for work...

The poster who made that comment said, "I have to constantly check my chellphone as part of my job." So one is assuming that he's checking his phone because work is coming onto his phone through some medium. Then he goes on to equate that to Instagram, Snapchat and games for his kid who is in school and using the phone. I think there's definitely a disconnect there. If he's checking his phone at work to kill time and surfing Instagram and other social media while he's at work, then he should be clear that he's checking his phone which has nothing to do with his job, but it's a way to get a dopamine hit. But using his words verbatim, that's not what he said!

*she*

Women have jobs, too, you know.

Or maybe you don't. Do all your friends sit around and eat bonbons all day like you?

Does the sex of the poster really matter? The argument s/he made still doesn't equate ... that's the point!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had a chat with my kid last night about giving her the chance to make her own decisions and live with the consequences, self-policing addictive behaviors, not being stupid and how not to get caught. Have fun with this meaningless debate.

+1 FCPS is not capable of enforcing this. Putting the ban in place isn't going to do much. Either people on this board don't remember being teenagers or they were very boring teenagers.

Boring is good. I think most parents would take boring any day of the week.

Ugh, how sad.

You think phone addiction is exciting?

I'm sorry your kids can't use a phone without being addicted. You maybe shouldn't buy them one?

My kids are irrelevant to this discussion. You, however, seem to think yours need their phone 24/7, or else...what?

No they aren't. You should be worrying about your kids - not mine or anyone else's.

I think my kids at 16 need to be treated as adults, lest they become the type of kids whose parents email me at college to ask about how "we" can get from a B+ to an A-.

[Anonymous]

I think some schools are going to find ways to implement the new policy, while others don't. I also think a lot of parents are going to police this in ways that make it impossible for the administration to be lax about it. The reports of kids using their phones during lunch or otherwise will start to roll in to many parents via their kids and I'm pretty sure those parents will report it right back to the school. Don't put it past parents who are totally done with the phone usage metrics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think some schools are going to find ways to implement the new policy, while others don't. I also think a lot of parents are going to police this in ways that make it impossible for the administration to be lax about it. The reports of kids using their phones during lunch or otherwise will start to roll in to many parents via their kids and I'm pretty sure those parents will report it right back to the school. Don't put it past parents who are totally done with the phone usage metrics.

I don't think you are wrong but this will continue a race to the bottom for FCPS teachers. The only staff they have to monitor this are the teachers and the teachers don't want to and shouldn't have to give up planning periods to walk around monitoring technology use that is not different from the technology that the school gives them and asks them to be on all day.

Also, if you want parents to get upset, have them fully monitor and enforce a phone ban while kids are getting sexually assaulted at school with no consequences for the abusers.

[Anonymous]

It's a state law so that has to be the FCPS rule. It's probably good for teens to be on their phones less in general. But you can't make it the school's job or high priority if the parents are giving kids phones and not teaching them appropriate usage or setting boundaries and limits.
People here like to say teachers aren't babysitting. What on earth is roaming the cafeteria looking for someone texting their friends to scold them if not babysitting?
They will have the rule and write up kids with really obvious and consistent violations. Otherwise not much will change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a state law so that has to be the FCPS rule. It's probably good for teens to be on their phones less in general. But you can't make it the school's job or high priority if the parents are giving kids phones and not teaching them appropriate usage or setting boundaries and limits.
People here like to say teachers aren't babysitting. What on earth is roaming the cafeteria looking for someone texting their friends to scold them if not babysitting?
They will have the rule and write up kids with really obvious and consistent violations. Otherwise not much will change.

I think teachers will be forced to write up students because if you don't and it gets out that students were seen using the phone during a class, it will for sure get back to the teacher and most school administrations will have no choice but to crack down. A few letters from parents to the state legislators who crafted SB108 is all it will take and FCPS was already on the known-violators list for not having implemented the Executive Order strictly enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a state law so that has to be the FCPS rule. It's probably good for teens to be on their phones less in general. But you can't make it the school's job or high priority if the parents are giving kids phones and not teaching them appropriate usage or setting boundaries and limits.
People here like to say teachers aren't babysitting. What on earth is roaming the cafeteria looking for someone texting their friends to scold them if not babysitting?
They will have the rule and write up kids with really obvious and consistent violations. Otherwise not much will change.

I think teachers will be forced to write up students because if you don't and it gets out that students were seen using the phone during a class, it will for sure get back to the teacher and most school administrations will have no choice but to crack down. A few letters from parents to the state legislators who crafted SB108 is all it will take and FCPS was already on the known-violators list for not having implemented the Executive Order strictly enough.

I thought the whole discussion here was about lunch and in passing times?

Also, I would be shocked if Richmond could make FCPS do anything. Did anything happen because they were on a list for not implementing the EO? I'm pretty sure most of Fairfax was thrilled because it was originally a Younkin order.