New cell phone policy for 2026-2027

[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?”

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.

Having your frontline staff refusing to acknowledge or enforce the rule actually does make it unenforceable. There is no money or appetite for what would need to be done.

And unless you made repeated violations an expellable offence (which you can't under the state's definition of public education), there is nothing that stops a kid from getting caught, coming back, and doing it again.

[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?”

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.

your kids should stop look over other people's shoulders while they are on their phones

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

No incumbents 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?”

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.

+1 this exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

PP - the parents get the emails and continue to let kids take their phones to school. Teachers correct. Principals are involved. Calls are made home. The phones keep coming in.

[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.

I’m pretty sure that will not be allowed.

The kids have them walking to school and on the bus. I haven’t seen a kid with a phone out in the classroom YET, but they’ll get dropped off in the morning in the kiss and ride for example, or walk to school, and then hang out outside until the last minute fooling around on their phone with their friends and doing dance challenges for TikTok and stuff.

I wish there were real disciplinary consequences for phone violations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?”

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.

your kids should stop look over other people's shoulders while they are on their phones

+1 the poor kids without phones are always clambering to look at someone else’s phone or use it in some way. Otherwise they are totally left out.

[Anonymous]

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

You know ... if you added two digits to 2026-2027, you'd have a DC phone number.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What an amazing parent! Teaching your kid to embrace lying, fraud, and entitlement is unbelievable. Good God.

Well, they go to FCPS.

[Anonymous]

I will support the ban at lunch if they also take away 1:1 devices and go back to only using class sets of laptops for certain lessons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

Neither of my children's music teachers has never cancelled a lesson at the last minute. That's not normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will support the ban at lunch if they also take away 1:1 devices and go back to only using class sets of laptops for certain lessons.

+1

[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.

Why?

[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.

It wasn't just the 70s. My older sister graduated in 1984 and there was a smoking area even then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?”

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.

Having your frontline staff refusing to acknowledge or enforce the rule actually does make it unenforceable. There is no money or appetite for what would need to be done.

And unless you made repeated violations an expellable offence (which you can't under the state's definition of public education), there is nothing that stops a kid from getting caught, coming back, and doing it again.

And that is why families who can afford to are flocking to private schools.
If I had money for private, I would absolutely do it.
It isn’t so much that the mere presence or view of a phone is going to scandalize my kid.
It’s that the learning environment has been degraded by others being on their phones.
There is a reason why people pay big $$$ for device-free summer camps.