High school - phone policies

[Anonymous]

Perhaps parents shouldn't buy phones for their kids? If you/we didn't have them growing up and our parents found us just fine, perhaps parents nowadays should take the lead and not purchase smartphones for their children. Why have the schools do your parenting for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps parents shouldn't buy phones for their kids? If you/we didn't have them growing up and our parents found us just fine, perhaps parents nowadays should take the lead and not purchase smartphones for their children. Why have the schools do your parenting for you?

Kids actually need phones (or at least, what they use them for would be much more difficult with just a laptop, or they’d have to rely on friends’ phones) at SSSAS US. They record experiments in physics labs, record their voices for rep checks in choir, have to scan math assignments, are required to photograph artworks to turn them in for grading in visual arts, are required to use an app to track and certify service hours. They can’t use their phones in the classroom unless instructed to by the teacher (in fact they have to leave them in phone holders at the back of the classroom), but when they need them, they need them. All of that is probably doable through a laptop or just borrowing a phone but would be way clunkier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps parents shouldn't buy phones for their kids? If you/we didn't have them growing up and our parents found us just fine, perhaps parents nowadays should take the lead and not purchase smartphones for their children. Why have the schools do your parenting for you?

Kids actually need phones (or at least, what they use them for would be much more difficult with just a laptop, or they’d have to rely on friends’ phones) at SSSAS US. They record experiments in physics labs, record their voices for rep checks in choir, have to scan math assignments, are required to photograph artworks to turn them in for grading in visual arts, are required to use an app to track and certify service hours. They can’t use their phones in the classroom unless instructed to by the teacher (in fact they have to leave them in phone holders at the back of the classroom), but when they need them, they need them. All of that is probably doable through a laptop or just borrowing a phone but would be way clunkier.

Well, if parents are going to insist that schools do their parenting for them when it comes to phones, perhaps parents should push back on homework/other things at school that require phones. Parents can do their part by not buying phones for kids instead of buying phones for the kids, doing no home education on how to use phones effectively, and then expecting schools to undo all of the bad habits they've been allowed to get through parent negligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maret is open season with the phones. I toured the school and every student I saw outside a classroom was glued to a phone.

Well, right. Outside the classroom. High schoolers who have free periods should have access to their phones. That doesn't bother me in the slightest.

[Anonymous]

Simple solution for Chromebooks - if they are not needed for an active assignment at that moment, they are closed. Period.

When they are opened for schoolwork, teachers circulate and shut down nonacademic activity. If a student persists in violating that rule, they lose the Chromebook for a while.

It works pretty well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps parents shouldn't buy phones for their kids? If you/we didn't have them growing up and our parents found us just fine, perhaps parents nowadays should take the lead and not purchase smartphones for their children. Why have the schools do your parenting for you?

This sounds like a parent of small kids or whose kids are grown.

Phones are likely the primary tool most of us use for everything (good and evil). It's how we all communicate, the resource for information, a watch, a calculator, a navigator, a wallet, a camera, a ruler, etc. As kids grow older, they will need phones like adults, and they need to learn to use them responsibly. Like learning to drive a car, kids need to learn with clear guidelines and supervision.

[Anonymous]

What age groups is everyone here thinking about? If I were drawing up guidelines:

High schoolers should have phone access between classes, or in class if needed for the lesson or lab.

Middle schoolers need a more strict environment (no use during school hours).

Elementary schoolers shouldn't have any phones at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Landon allows no phone usage during the school day. They have to be turned off and in the locker until dismissal.

Excellent.


This lame hurry up and rush to my phone texts between classes is like ADHD on steroids. Students aren’t retaining any taught material. All their memory is used for is planning their next iPhone hit.

My Landon HSer who texts me during lunch and free period would beg to differ.

[Anonymous]

My understanding is that Saint John Paul the Great only allows phones before and after school. Not during class nor lunch or study halls.

[Anonymous]

Seriously. If parents want to control cell phones, don't buy them for your kids. End of discussion. Do you need to track their every movement? Did your parents track your every movement? You want your kids to have social advantages and connections with cell phones, but you don't teach them how to use them, then blame schools for your failure of parenting. You can't have it all. Give your kids a tool of addiction and expect schools to cure them? Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that Saint John Paul the Great only allows phones before and after school. Not during class nor lunch or study halls.

This is the same for PVI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously. If parents want to control cell phones, don't buy them for your kids. End of discussion. Do you need to track their every movement? Did your parents track your every movement? You want your kids to have social advantages and connections with cell phones, but you don't teach them how to use them, then blame schools for your failure of parenting. You can't have it all. Give your kids a tool of addiction and expect schools to cure them? Please.

My mom (age 75) makes this point to me when we have this discussion on the risks of phones for this generation. To my mom, the parents need to be responsible. That makes complete sense. However, as I mention in my conversations with her, my concern is for the entire generation of current teenagers. Yes, the parents must do their job at home. But many kids are not fortunate enough to have parents that monitor these things. And so for the sake of all[b] teenagers, let's just ask that schools help out and keep it simple -- no phone use at school. The kids might even prefer it, but they don't yet realize it because they are addicted to their phones.

[Anonymous]

I guess I’m lucky. My kid and her friends actually talk to each other at lunch and between classes. Sure, there are long strings of text chats periodically, but those happen outside of school. DC says they’ll sometimes pull up a video or a game or something to show each other, but they don’t sit and stare at their phones. And this is a group with several fairly introverted kids.

The kids are alright.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps parents shouldn't buy phones for their kids? If you/we didn't have them growing up and our parents found us just fine, perhaps parents nowadays should take the lead and not purchase smartphones for their children. Why have the schools do your parenting for you?

Kids actually need phones (or at least, what they use them for would be much more difficult with just a laptop, or they’d have to rely on friends’ phones) at SSSAS US. They record experiments in physics labs, record their voices for rep checks in choir, have to scan math assignments, are required to photograph artworks to turn them in for grading in visual arts, are required to use an app to track and certify service hours. They can’t use their phones in the classroom unless instructed to by the teacher (in fact they have to leave them in phone holders at the back of the classroom), but when they need them, they need them. All of that is probably doable through a laptop or just borrowing a phone but would be way clunkier.

This sounds terrible. Why would the school do this? Does the school not read the research and see how it is harming its own students? Every other school is moving in the other direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps parents shouldn't buy phones for their kids? If you/we didn't have them growing up and our parents found us just fine, perhaps parents nowadays should take the lead and not purchase smartphones for their children. Why have the schools do your parenting for you?

Kids actually need phones (or at least, what they use them for would be much more difficult with just a laptop, or they’d have to rely on friends’ phones) at SSSAS US. They record experiments in physics labs, record their voices for rep checks in choir, have to scan math assignments, are required to photograph artworks to turn them in for grading in visual arts, are required to use an app to track and certify service hours. They can’t use their phones in the classroom unless instructed to by the teacher (in fact they have to leave them in phone holders at the back of the classroom), but when they need them, they need them. All of that is probably doable through a laptop or just borrowing a phone but would be way clunkier.

This sounds terrible. Why would the school do this? Does the school not read the research and see how it is harming its own students? Every other school is moving in the other direction.

Correction: every other private school