New cell phone policy for 2026-2027

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I told my kid about the new rule for next year and he laughed and was like “how are they going to enforce that?”

Yondr pouches?

We will plan to get a dummy phone if they make them use those stupid pouches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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-.

DP but this “MYOB” approach is completely wrong.

When we see something happening that is wrong and hurts people, then we need to say something.

You may think your kids are perfect and fine in all of this, but we are not islands. We live in society. What we do affects others.

Maybe you are someone who brings booze to a party full of recovering alcoholics because why should their problems affect you, since you can enjoy responsibly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I told my kid about the new rule for next year and he laughed and was like “how are they going to enforce that?”

Yondr pouches?

We will plan to get a dummy phone if they make them use those stupid pouches.

Ah, so, enabling fraud?
You are really something.

[Anonymous]

My parents told me back in the 70s that there were smoking lounges at their high school.
When they did away with the high school student smoking lounge and banned smoking in high school, I would bet there were a few parents who thought the ban was stupid.
The big difference is that back then, people weren’t snowflakes who enabled their kids as much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I told my kid about the new rule for next year and he laughed and was like “how are they going to enforce that?”

Vaping happens at school too, in spite of it being banned.
Should we just get rid of all the rules we can’t 100 percent enforce?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I told my kid about the new rule for next year and he laughed and was like “how are they going to enforce that?”

Yondr pouches?

We will plan to get a dummy phone if they make them use those stupid pouches.

This is some impressive parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I told my kid about the new rule for next year and he laughed and was like “how are they going to enforce that?”

The thing the "we follow the rules!!!" crowd doesn't understand is that a stupid and unenforceable rule reduces the authority teachers have with kids. The kid here is laughing - the attitude is that the school is so clueless as to how things work they think they can do this. That attitude carries over to other things. It's not the teachers or even the schools probably - they understand perfectly well how to keep a grip on their position with students so they won't enforce it. The parents that think this is going to happen are the ones that look foolish. And then it convinces them they don't need to take other actions on phones.
Like literally everything else it does, you can't count on FCPS, you have to do it yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I told my kid about the new rule for next year and he laughed and was like “how are they going to enforce that?”

Vaping happens at school too, in spite of it being banned.
Should we just get rid of all the rules we can’t 100 percent enforce?

I think the first step on vaping would be to...try enforcement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents told me back in the 70s that there were smoking lounges at their high school.
When they did away with the high school student smoking lounge and banned smoking in high school, I would bet there were a few parents who thought the ban was stupid.
The big difference is that back then, people weren’t snowflakes who enabled their kids as much.

Another key difference is that parents weren't buying their kids cigarettes and then mandating they carry them around at all times.

[Anonymous]

What can we do about the 5th/6th graders taking their phones to school? It starts super early and I feel like it shouldn’t be allowed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I told my kid about the new rule for next year and he laughed and was like “how are they going to enforce that?”

The thing the "we follow the rules!!!" crowd doesn't understand is that a stupid and unenforceable rule reduces the authority teachers have with kids. The kid here is laughing - the attitude is that the school is so clueless as to how things work they think they can do this. That attitude carries over to other things. It's not the teachers or even the schools probably - they understand perfectly well how to keep a grip on their position with students so they won't enforce it. The parents that think this is going to happen are the ones that look foolish. And then it convinces them they don't need to take other actions on phones.
Like literally everything else it does, you can't count on FCPS, you have to do it yourself.

This entire thing is based on the premise that the rule is unenforceable.
That’s false.
It is enforceable. Whether schools will go to the lengths needed to do so is another question.
Some kids might try and find ways to get around it, but that does not make the rule unenforceable.
The effectiveness of the enforcement depends on many factors.
Schools or teachers may choose to look the other way, as they do for many things and many reasons, but that doesn’t mean the rule is unenforceable.
Leadership needs to grow a spine and expect accountability from students and there need to be real consequences for errant behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What can we do about the 5th/6th graders taking their phones to school? It starts super early and I feel like it shouldn’t be allowed.

I’m pretty sure that will not be allowed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What can we do about the 5th/6th graders taking their phones to school? It starts super early and I feel like it shouldn’t be allowed.

This is actually why I have no faith in the ability to do anything meaningful at the HS level. I have gotten multiple emails from a 4th grade teacher reminding parents not to send phones to school. the principal has been involved. It has not changed that kids bring them out daily during class. And these kids are 10, not 17.

The ES level currently has the bell-to-bell policy they are proposing for HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I told my kid about the new rule for next year and he laughed and was like “how are they going to enforce that?”

The thing the "we follow the rules!!!" crowd doesn't understand is that a stupid and unenforceable rule reduces the authority teachers have with kids. The kid here is laughing - the attitude is that the school is so clueless as to how things work they think they can do this. That attitude carries over to other things. It's not the teachers or even the schools probably - they understand perfectly well how to keep a grip on their position with students so they won't enforce it. The parents that think this is going to happen are the ones that look foolish. And then it convinces them they don't need to take other actions on phones.
Like literally everything else it does, you can't count on FCPS, you have to do it yourself.

What does that mean, you “have to do it yourself.”?
Even if I did not allow my kids to have phones, their education would be harmed by those around them using phones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What can we do about the 5th/6th graders taking their phones to school? It starts super early and I feel like it shouldn’t be allowed.

This is actually why I have no faith in the ability to do anything meaningful at the HS level. I have gotten multiple emails from a 4th grade teacher reminding parents not to send phones to school. the principal has been involved. It has not changed that kids bring them out daily during class. And these kids are 10, not 17.

The ES level currently has the bell-to-bell policy they are proposing for HS.

Yeah well now we have schools where the kids are in charge and afraid of no one or nothing. That needs to change.