New cell phone policy for 2026-2027

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if kid’s braces wire is bothering them, you talk in the morning before school.

“I’m going to call the orthodontist today to try to get you seen today or tomorrow. Are there any class periods that you absolutely don’t want to miss this week?”

I swear some of these parents are just too dumb to be able to plan ahead.

Executive dysfunction tends to run in families. Parents who can’t plan or make good decisions will have kids who can’t plan or make good decisions.

That is 100% false. Way to blame parents for special needs kids. You suck.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for the kids who sit alone and have no friends in their lunch period. They are the ones who now have to sit there looking around at other kids in groups.

And how exactly would staring at their phone during lunch develop their social skills? Maybe now they will look at a neighbor who is also sitting alone and figure out how to connect, develop their social skills, and improve their mental health. Screens are what got some kids into a pit of loneliness.

I applaud the district/state for trying to improve learning and connection, though I will miss being able to communicate a change in plans to my kid. Hope the main office is ready for the barrage of phone calls coming in to “please contact my kid about…”. And will they have a landline the kids can use to call home if needed? They can’t just cut parents off.

Every classroom and office has a landline in every school.

Kids will still turn their phones on immediately at the dismissal bell and see anything you’ve texted mid day, but schools also have always had procedures in place to contact kids in an urgent situation. I suspect once it is a smidgen of effort to contact kids, a lot of what seemed urgent to many of the parents will be able to wait until 3 pm.

It’s worked fine in middle schools where phones were completely restricted this year, it will work fine in high school too.

I'm a parent of a kid in another county with a ban. No the kids are not allowed to use the office phone or the classroom phones. If a parent calls the office with a message for your kid, they office policy is to EMAIL the kid. Which they will not get since they can't have their phones. It's a mess.

Clearly if there was a real emergency they would get ahold of your kid more quickly.

I applaud the school for emailing dumb sht like, “dad is going to pick you up instead of mom” or “don’t forget to walk the dog when you get home”. It can wait until 3:00 without issue.

Email can be accessed from laptops at lunch, texts can be read at 3:01.

you think laptops are out at lunch? no.

of course a true ER can get to my kid, but what about - the orthodontist can get you in at 1:30 pm to take care of that loose wire that's poking your cheek, so I will pick you up.

+1 this exactly. There are so many circumstances where my kid needs to check a quick text at lunch to solidify the after school plans. Waiting until 3 pm to be able to see it as they are rushing to the bus would not cut it.

Kids will adapt. Solidify after school plans the day before.

You’ve missed the entire point but no worries. We we all get around the rule.

The point is that you and your child are addicted to your phones and are really bad about making plans?

Sometimes plans come at the last minute. How hard is that to understand? My DS has had to stay after school to meet with a teacher on occasion; it helps when he can let me know before I leave work (I leave at 2:30) so I can head to the school instead of heading home.

Your kid can always ride the late bus home or walk, or meet with the teacher during the advisory block, or send them an email to arrange a meeting ahead of time for the following day when they’ve had a chance to talk to you, or pop over during passing period, or ask if they can stop by during lunch one day, or or or…

All of these are strategies my students use.

Sounds like your kid struggles with planning ahead too. Maybe the rule will help both of you learn to communicate ahead of time. Sounds like a win.

My kid does meet his teachers during advisory and at other times, but he struggles in a lot of classes, so he may see one teacher during advisory and another after school.

Also, he will email his teachers at night/over the weekend about needing to meet, but they won’t get back to him until the school day.

I really don’t understand this. If the teacher requires email communication in order to allow a child to stay after school, then he needs to plan more than a few hours in advance. Ask on Monday night to stay on Wednesday. Email Friday morning to stay on Monday. If he’s waiting until the last minute to ask (and yes, 8 pm on Monday asking to stay on Tuesday is last minute) then yeah, it’s going to be harder to coordinate.

Great. So the new policy will work for you. It won’t for us. My child will be texting me at lunch if after school plans happen or change. He has my permission and I will be letting the school know if they try to discipline him for a lunch infraction that he was simply coordinating with me. No school is going to tell me that my child can’t use his phone at lunch to communicate with his parent.

They will take the phone and after the second or third infraction tell you to come to the school to pick up the phone. at least, that is what they can do if they chose to enforce the rules. Threads earlier this year made it clear that there were plenty of schools doing just that.

You really think they are walking up and down the cafeteria looking for kids on phones? Please. lol.

In addition, there will be 504 exemptions to the rule. How do they know that kid doesn’t have diabetes and needs their phone? Are they going to confront a kid on their phone at lunch and ask if they have diabetes? They will have no idea which kids at lunch have a medical exemption. It would be a HIPPA violation for them to ask what medical condition they have that necessitates their phone use.

What kind of @$$hole relies on the fact that some kids have medical conditions to hope that their kid doesn’t get in trouble for using their phone to text mommy during school hours? Don’t use those kids an as excuse for your poor planning and parenting skills. How dare you. Kindly F off.

Did I say I was going to do that? I’m seriously asking how they will know about the medical exemptions. My child has a friend with diabetes. Go eff yourself.

You really do not think that the school/staff will know which kids have medical exemptions? Fortunately, there are not too many children with T1D. I'm sure that the schools will be able to keep track.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for the kids who sit alone and have no friends in their lunch period. They are the ones who now have to sit there looking around at other kids in groups.

And how exactly would staring at their phone during lunch develop their social skills? Maybe now they will look at a neighbor who is also sitting alone and figure out how to connect, develop their social skills, and improve their mental health. Screens are what got some kids into a pit of loneliness.

I applaud the district/state for trying to improve learning and connection, though I will miss being able to communicate a change in plans to my kid. Hope the main office is ready for the barrage of phone calls coming in to “please contact my kid about…”. And will they have a landline the kids can use to call home if needed? They can’t just cut parents off.

Every classroom and office has a landline in every school.

Kids will still turn their phones on immediately at the dismissal bell and see anything you’ve texted mid day, but schools also have always had procedures in place to contact kids in an urgent situation. I suspect once it is a smidgen of effort to contact kids, a lot of what seemed urgent to many of the parents will be able to wait until 3 pm.

It’s worked fine in middle schools where phones were completely restricted this year, it will work fine in high school too.

I'm a parent of a kid in another county with a ban. No the kids are not allowed to use the office phone or the classroom phones. If a parent calls the office with a message for your kid, they office policy is to EMAIL the kid. Which they will not get since they can't have their phones. It's a mess.

Clearly if there was a real emergency they would get ahold of your kid more quickly.

I applaud the school for emailing dumb sht like, “dad is going to pick you up instead of mom” or “don’t forget to walk the dog when you get home”. It can wait until 3:00 without issue.

Email can be accessed from laptops at lunch, texts can be read at 3:01.

you think laptops are out at lunch? no.

of course a true ER can get to my kid, but what about - the orthodontist can get you in at 1:30 pm to take care of that loose wire that's poking your cheek, so I will pick you up.

+1 this exactly. There are so many circumstances where my kid needs to check a quick text at lunch to solidify the after school plans. Waiting until 3 pm to be able to see it as they are rushing to the bus would not cut it.

Kids will adapt. Solidify after school plans the day before.

You’ve missed the entire point but no worries. We we all get around the rule.

The point is that you and your child are addicted to your phones and are really bad about making plans?

Sometimes plans come at the last minute. How hard is that to understand? My DS has had to stay after school to meet with a teacher on occasion; it helps when he can let me know before I leave work (I leave at 2:30) so I can head to the school instead of heading home.

Your kid can always ride the late bus home or walk, or meet with the teacher during the advisory block, or send them an email to arrange a meeting ahead of time for the following day when they’ve had a chance to talk to you, or pop over during passing period, or ask if they can stop by during lunch one day, or or or…

All of these are strategies my students use.

Sounds like your kid struggles with planning ahead too. Maybe the rule will help both of you learn to communicate ahead of time. Sounds like a win.

My kid does meet his teachers during advisory and at other times, but he struggles in a lot of classes, so he may see one teacher during advisory and another after school.

Also, he will email his teachers at night/over the weekend about needing to meet, but they won’t get back to him until the school day.

I really don’t understand this. If the teacher requires email communication in order to allow a child to stay after school, then he needs to plan more than a few hours in advance. Ask on Monday night to stay on Wednesday. Email Friday morning to stay on Monday. If he’s waiting until the last minute to ask (and yes, 8 pm on Monday asking to stay on Tuesday is last minute) then yeah, it’s going to be harder to coordinate.

Great. So the new policy will work for you. It won’t for us. My child will be texting me at lunch if after school plans happen or change. He has my permission and I will be letting the school know if they try to discipline him for a lunch infraction that he was simply coordinating with me. No school is going to tell me that my child can’t use his phone at lunch to communicate with his parent.

They will take the phone and after the second or third infraction tell you to come to the school to pick up the phone. at least, that is what they can do if they chose to enforce the rules. Threads earlier this year made it clear that there were plenty of schools doing just that.

You really think they are walking up and down the cafeteria looking for kids on phones? Please. lol.

In addition, there will be 504 exemptions to the rule. How do they know that kid doesn’t have diabetes and needs their phone? Are they going to confront a kid on their phone at lunch and ask if they have diabetes? They will have no idea which kids at lunch have a medical exemption. It would be a HIPPA violation for them to ask what medical condition they have that necessitates their phone use.

What kind of @$$hole relies on the fact that some kids have medical conditions to hope that their kid doesn’t get in trouble for using their phone to text mommy during school hours? Don’t use those kids an as excuse for your poor planning and parenting skills. How dare you. Kindly F off.

Did I say I was going to do that? I’m seriously asking how they will know about the medical exemptions. My child has a friend with diabetes. Go eff yourself.

You really do not think that the school/staff will know which kids have medical exemptions? Fortunately, there are not too many children with T1D. I'm sure that the schools will be able to keep track.

In the cafeteria? I don’t think so. They won’t have the staffing.

[Anonymous]

I mean, you can tell your kid they don’t have to follow rules all you want. But if I’m a teacher and state law + my employer say my job requires me to enforce this, I’m enforcing it in whatever way I’m instructed. I’m not violating state law for you.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for the kids who sit alone and have no friends in their lunch period. They are the ones who now have to sit there looking around at other kids in groups.

And how exactly would staring at their phone during lunch develop their social skills? Maybe now they will look at a neighbor who is also sitting alone and figure out how to connect, develop their social skills, and improve their mental health. Screens are what got some kids into a pit of loneliness.

I applaud the district/state for trying to improve learning and connection, though I will miss being able to communicate a change in plans to my kid. Hope the main office is ready for the barrage of phone calls coming in to “please contact my kid about…”. And will they have a landline the kids can use to call home if needed? They can’t just cut parents off.

Every classroom and office has a landline in every school.

Kids will still turn their phones on immediately at the dismissal bell and see anything you’ve texted mid day, but schools also have always had procedures in place to contact kids in an urgent situation. I suspect once it is a smidgen of effort to contact kids, a lot of what seemed urgent to many of the parents will be able to wait until 3 pm.

It’s worked fine in middle schools where phones were completely restricted this year, it will work fine in high school too.

I'm a parent of a kid in another county with a ban. No the kids are not allowed to use the office phone or the classroom phones. If a parent calls the office with a message for your kid, they office policy is to EMAIL the kid. Which they will not get since they can't have their phones. It's a mess.

Clearly if there was a real emergency they would get ahold of your kid more quickly.

I applaud the school for emailing dumb sht like, “dad is going to pick you up instead of mom” or “don’t forget to walk the dog when you get home”. It can wait until 3:00 without issue.

Email can be accessed from laptops at lunch, texts can be read at 3:01.

you think laptops are out at lunch? no.

of course a true ER can get to my kid, but what about - the orthodontist can get you in at 1:30 pm to take care of that loose wire that's poking your cheek, so I will pick you up.

+1 this exactly. There are so many circumstances where my kid needs to check a quick text at lunch to solidify the after school plans. Waiting until 3 pm to be able to see it as they are rushing to the bus would not cut it.

Kids will adapt. Solidify after school plans the day before.

You’ve missed the entire point but no worries. We we all get around the rule.

The point is that you and your child are addicted to your phones and are really bad about making plans?

Sometimes plans come at the last minute. How hard is that to understand? My DS has had to stay after school to meet with a teacher on occasion; it helps when he can let me know before I leave work (I leave at 2:30) so I can head to the school instead of heading home.

Your kid can always ride the late bus home or walk, or meet with the teacher during the advisory block, or send them an email to arrange a meeting ahead of time for the following day when they’ve had a chance to talk to you, or pop over during passing period, or ask if they can stop by during lunch one day, or or or…

All of these are strategies my students use.

Sounds like your kid struggles with planning ahead too. Maybe the rule will help both of you learn to communicate ahead of time. Sounds like a win.

My kid does meet his teachers during advisory and at other times, but he struggles in a lot of classes, so he may see one teacher during advisory and another after school.

Also, he will email his teachers at night/over the weekend about needing to meet, but they won’t get back to him until the school day.

I really don’t understand this. If the teacher requires email communication in order to allow a child to stay after school, then he needs to plan more than a few hours in advance. Ask on Monday night to stay on Wednesday. Email Friday morning to stay on Monday. If he’s waiting until the last minute to ask (and yes, 8 pm on Monday asking to stay on Tuesday is last minute) then yeah, it’s going to be harder to coordinate.

Great. So the new policy will work for you. It won’t for us. My child will be texting me at lunch if after school plans happen or change. He has my permission and I will be letting the school know if they try to discipline him for a lunch infraction that he was simply coordinating with me. No school is going to tell me that my child can’t use his phone at lunch to communicate with his parent.

They will take the phone and after the second or third infraction tell you to come to the school to pick up the phone. at least, that is what they can do if they chose to enforce the rules. Threads earlier this year made it clear that there were plenty of schools doing just that.

You really think they are walking up and down the cafeteria looking for kids on phones? Please. lol.

In addition, there will be 504 exemptions to the rule. How do they know that kid doesn’t have diabetes and needs their phone? Are they going to confront a kid on their phone at lunch and ask if they have diabetes? They will have no idea which kids at lunch have a medical exemption. It would be a HIPPA violation for them to ask what medical condition they have that necessitates their phone use.

What kind of @$$hole relies on the fact that some kids have medical conditions to hope that their kid doesn’t get in trouble for using their phone to text mommy during school hours? Don’t use those kids an as excuse for your poor planning and parenting skills. How dare you. Kindly F off.

Did I say I was going to do that? I’m seriously asking how they will know about the medical exemptions. My child has a friend with diabetes. Go eff yourself.

You really do not think that the school/staff will know which kids have medical exemptions? Fortunately, there are not too many children with T1D. I'm sure that the schools will be able to keep track.

High schools are huge. I do not think they are keeping track of who will have a medical exemption at lunch and will be allowed to use their phone. You are delusional if you think high schools will be “able to keep track” of this at lunch. lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for the kids who sit alone and have no friends in their lunch period. They are the ones who now have to sit there looking around at other kids in groups.

And how exactly would staring at their phone during lunch develop their social skills? Maybe now they will look at a neighbor who is also sitting alone and figure out how to connect, develop their social skills, and improve their mental health. Screens are what got some kids into a pit of loneliness.

I applaud the district/state for trying to improve learning and connection, though I will miss being able to communicate a change in plans to my kid. Hope the main office is ready for the barrage of phone calls coming in to “please contact my kid about…”. And will they have a landline the kids can use to call home if needed? They can’t just cut parents off.

Every classroom and office has a landline in every school.

Kids will still turn their phones on immediately at the dismissal bell and see anything you’ve texted mid day, but schools also have always had procedures in place to contact kids in an urgent situation. I suspect once it is a smidgen of effort to contact kids, a lot of what seemed urgent to many of the parents will be able to wait until 3 pm.

It’s worked fine in middle schools where phones were completely restricted this year, it will work fine in high school too.

I'm a parent of a kid in another county with a ban. No the kids are not allowed to use the office phone or the classroom phones. If a parent calls the office with a message for your kid, they office policy is to EMAIL the kid. Which they will not get since they can't have their phones. It's a mess.

Clearly if there was a real emergency they would get ahold of your kid more quickly.

I applaud the school for emailing dumb sht like, “dad is going to pick you up instead of mom” or “don’t forget to walk the dog when you get home”. It can wait until 3:00 without issue.

Email can be accessed from laptops at lunch, texts can be read at 3:01.

you think laptops are out at lunch? no.

of course a true ER can get to my kid, but what about - the orthodontist can get you in at 1:30 pm to take care of that loose wire that's poking your cheek, so I will pick you up.

You go to the school and get the kid.

How is that confusing to you? Why are you pretending like that scenario is complex?

you really don't see the problem with this, huh? i just show up at the school, no notice to my kid at all.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for the kids who sit alone and have no friends in their lunch period. They are the ones who now have to sit there looking around at other kids in groups.

And how exactly would staring at their phone during lunch develop their social skills? Maybe now they will look at a neighbor who is also sitting alone and figure out how to connect, develop their social skills, and improve their mental health. Screens are what got some kids into a pit of loneliness.

I applaud the district/state for trying to improve learning and connection, though I will miss being able to communicate a change in plans to my kid. Hope the main office is ready for the barrage of phone calls coming in to “please contact my kid about…”. And will they have a landline the kids can use to call home if needed? They can’t just cut parents off.

Every classroom and office has a landline in every school.

Kids will still turn their phones on immediately at the dismissal bell and see anything you’ve texted mid day, but schools also have always had procedures in place to contact kids in an urgent situation. I suspect once it is a smidgen of effort to contact kids, a lot of what seemed urgent to many of the parents will be able to wait until 3 pm.

It’s worked fine in middle schools where phones were completely restricted this year, it will work fine in high school too.

I'm a parent of a kid in another county with a ban. No the kids are not allowed to use the office phone or the classroom phones. If a parent calls the office with a message for your kid, they office policy is to EMAIL the kid. Which they will not get since they can't have their phones. It's a mess.

Clearly if there was a real emergency they would get ahold of your kid more quickly.

I applaud the school for emailing dumb sht like, “dad is going to pick you up instead of mom” or “don’t forget to walk the dog when you get home”. It can wait until 3:00 without issue.

Email can be accessed from laptops at lunch, texts can be read at 3:01.

you think laptops are out at lunch? no.

of course a true ER can get to my kid, but what about - the orthodontist can get you in at 1:30 pm to take care of that loose wire that's poking your cheek, so I will pick you up.

+1 this exactly. There are so many circumstances where my kid needs to check a quick text at lunch to solidify the after school plans. Waiting until 3 pm to be able to see it as they are rushing to the bus would not cut it.

Kids will adapt. Solidify after school plans the day before.

You’ve missed the entire point but no worries. We we all get around the rule.

The point is that you and your child are addicted to your phones and are really bad about making plans?

Sometimes plans come at the last minute. How hard is that to understand? My DS has had to stay after school to meet with a teacher on occasion; it helps when he can let me know before I leave work (I leave at 2:30) so I can head to the school instead of heading home.

Your kid can always ride the late bus home or walk, or meet with the teacher during the advisory block, or send them an email to arrange a meeting ahead of time for the following day when they’ve had a chance to talk to you, or pop over during passing period, or ask if they can stop by during lunch one day, or or or…

All of these are strategies my students use.

Sounds like your kid struggles with planning ahead too. Maybe the rule will help both of you learn to communicate ahead of time. Sounds like a win.

My kid does meet his teachers during advisory and at other times, but he struggles in a lot of classes, so he may see one teacher during advisory and another after school.

Also, he will email his teachers at night/over the weekend about needing to meet, but they won’t get back to him until the school day.

I really don’t understand this. If the teacher requires email communication in order to allow a child to stay after school, then he needs to plan more than a few hours in advance. Ask on Monday night to stay on Wednesday. Email Friday morning to stay on Monday. If he’s waiting until the last minute to ask (and yes, 8 pm on Monday asking to stay on Tuesday is last minute) then yeah, it’s going to be harder to coordinate.

Great. So the new policy will work for you. It won’t for us. My child will be texting me at lunch if after school plans happen or change. He has my permission and I will be letting the school know if they try to discipline him for a lunch infraction that he was simply coordinating with me. No school is going to tell me that my child can’t use his phone at lunch to communicate with his parent.

They will take the phone and after the second or third infraction tell you to come to the school to pick up the phone. at least, that is what they can do if they chose to enforce the rules. Threads earlier this year made it clear that there were plenty of schools doing just that.

You really think they are walking up and down the cafeteria looking for kids on phones? Please. lol.

In addition, there will be 504 exemptions to the rule. How do they know that kid doesn’t have diabetes and needs their phone? Are they going to confront a kid on their phone at lunch and ask if they have diabetes? They will have no idea which kids at lunch have a medical exemption. It would be a HIPPA violation for them to ask what medical condition they have that necessitates their phone use.

What kind of @$$hole relies on the fact that some kids have medical conditions to hope that their kid doesn’t get in trouble for using their phone to text mommy during school hours? Don’t use those kids an as excuse for your poor planning and parenting skills. How dare you. Kindly F off.

Did I say I was going to do that? I’m seriously asking how they will know about the medical exemptions. My child has a friend with diabetes. Go eff yourself.

You really do not think that the school/staff will know which kids have medical exemptions? Fortunately, there are not too many children with T1D. I'm sure that the schools will be able to keep track.

well i am 100 sure they won't and do not keep track.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for the kids who sit alone and have no friends in their lunch period. They are the ones who now have to sit there looking around at other kids in groups.

And how exactly would staring at their phone during lunch develop their social skills? Maybe now they will look at a neighbor who is also sitting alone and figure out how to connect, develop their social skills, and improve their mental health. Screens are what got some kids into a pit of loneliness.

I applaud the district/state for trying to improve learning and connection, though I will miss being able to communicate a change in plans to my kid. Hope the main office is ready for the barrage of phone calls coming in to “please contact my kid about…”. And will they have a landline the kids can use to call home if needed? They can’t just cut parents off.

Every classroom and office has a landline in every school.

Kids will still turn their phones on immediately at the dismissal bell and see anything you’ve texted mid day, but schools also have always had procedures in place to contact kids in an urgent situation. I suspect once it is a smidgen of effort to contact kids, a lot of what seemed urgent to many of the parents will be able to wait until 3 pm.

It’s worked fine in middle schools where phones were completely restricted this year, it will work fine in high school too.

I'm a parent of a kid in another county with a ban. No the kids are not allowed to use the office phone or the classroom phones. If a parent calls the office with a message for your kid, they office policy is to EMAIL the kid. Which they will not get since they can't have their phones. It's a mess.

Clearly if there was a real emergency they would get ahold of your kid more quickly.

I applaud the school for emailing dumb sht like, “dad is going to pick you up instead of mom” or “don’t forget to walk the dog when you get home”. It can wait until 3:00 without issue.

Email can be accessed from laptops at lunch, texts can be read at 3:01.

you think laptops are out at lunch? no.

of course a true ER can get to my kid, but what about - the orthodontist can get you in at 1:30 pm to take care of that loose wire that's poking your cheek, so I will pick you up.

+1 this exactly. There are so many circumstances where my kid needs to check a quick text at lunch to solidify the after school plans. Waiting until 3 pm to be able to see it as they are rushing to the bus would not cut it.

Kids will adapt. Solidify after school plans the day before.

You’ve missed the entire point but no worries. We we all get around the rule.

The point is that you and your child are addicted to your phones and are really bad about making plans?

Sometimes plans come at the last minute. How hard is that to understand? My DS has had to stay after school to meet with a teacher on occasion; it helps when he can let me know before I leave work (I leave at 2:30) so I can head to the school instead of heading home.

Your kid can always ride the late bus home or walk, or meet with the teacher during the advisory block, or send them an email to arrange a meeting ahead of time for the following day when they’ve had a chance to talk to you, or pop over during passing period, or ask if they can stop by during lunch one day, or or or…

All of these are strategies my students use.

Sounds like your kid struggles with planning ahead too. Maybe the rule will help both of you learn to communicate ahead of time. Sounds like a win.

My kid does meet his teachers during advisory and at other times, but he struggles in a lot of classes, so he may see one teacher during advisory and another after school.

Also, he will email his teachers at night/over the weekend about needing to meet, but they won’t get back to him until the school day.

I really don’t understand this. If the teacher requires email communication in order to allow a child to stay after school, then he needs to plan more than a few hours in advance. Ask on Monday night to stay on Wednesday. Email Friday morning to stay on Monday. If he’s waiting until the last minute to ask (and yes, 8 pm on Monday asking to stay on Tuesday is last minute) then yeah, it’s going to be harder to coordinate.

Great. So the new policy will work for you. It won’t for us. My child will be texting me at lunch if after school plans happen or change. He has my permission and I will be letting the school know if they try to discipline him for a lunch infraction that he was simply coordinating with me. No school is going to tell me that my child can’t use his phone at lunch to communicate with his parent.

They will take the phone and after the second or third infraction tell you to come to the school to pick up the phone. at least, that is what they can do if they chose to enforce the rules. Threads earlier this year made it clear that there were plenty of schools doing just that.

You really think they are walking up and down the cafeteria looking for kids on phones? Please. lol.

In addition, there will be 504 exemptions to the rule. How do they know that kid doesn’t have diabetes and needs their phone? Are they going to confront a kid on their phone at lunch and ask if they have diabetes? They will have no idea which kids at lunch have a medical exemption. It would be a HIPPA violation for them to ask what medical condition they have that necessitates their phone use.

sadly yes they probably will be policing. and they confront the kids who have medical exemptions, it's terrible and othering

all this because some parents couldn't just take the phone away from their own kids

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It is disturbing how a significant number of parents on this thread are actively encouraging their children to break the cell phone policy. Worse yet, many are admitting to modeling sneaky behaviors to help their children bypass the rules entirely. ​Instead of supporting school staff, some parents are actively teaching their children how to operate in the shadows.

​Some parents admit to buying decoy phones for their children to hand over into classroom storage devices or Yondr pouches, allowing the child to keep their actual smartphone hidden in their pocket or backpack. When phones are successfully locked away, parents often condone use of alternative digital workarounds, such as using school-issued laptops to chat via shared Google Docs during lectures.

Some parents frequently text their children during school, expecting an immediate response, despite having full awareness of the "bell-to-bell" policy. When schools implement the state-mandated "bell-to-bell" ban, parents often balk, citing safety panics, despite the fact that every school has a front office fully equipped to relay emergency messages. ​By prioritizing their own anxiety or desire for constant contact over the school’s boundaries, parents are sending a clear, toxic message: Rules don't apply to us if they are inconvenient.

​Condoning and modeling the intentional breaking of school rules and state mandates is, plain and simple, poor parenting.

​When a parent helps a child smuggle a phone into class, they teach that child to view authority figures, such as teachers and administrators, not as leaders to respect, but as adversaries to outsmart. A child raised to believe they are above basic rules will struggle significantly when transitioning to higher education or "the real world," where defying policies carries swift, real-world consequences.

Like I said, it is, plain and simple, poor parenting.

ONCE AGAIN, FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK…IT’S JUST FOR LUNCH!

Get a grip!

The average high school student is not capable of switching back into focused school mode after staring at a phone screen for 30 minutes. The remainder of the class period after my lunch block is a nightmare of whining, behaviors, grumpiness, etc.

The most common use of the phone is not old school "check your text messages and put it away". It's check the alert, respond to mom's text, see a snapchat notification your friend sent from the bathroom, get sucked into writing messages back and forth for as long as friend can avoid being in class, navigate over to instagram, scroll for 15 minutes, and then put in earbuds and watch tiktok or youtube videos until the administrators shoo you out of the cafeteria. Then they come back to class (some, some detour to the bathroom to readjust their hair or hoods to try to hide the airpods they were using in the cafe before coming back) and I ask them to focus to do a task and they are detoxing from screens and they can't do it.

It isn't just getting a message from mom.

That’s what I mean by the good kids are getting punished with this rule. My kid is not average. My kid has zero social media and no airbuds. My kid doesn’t have trouble focusing back in class. My kid is a straight A student. My kid should be able to text me at lunch or see a text from me at lunch period. I don’t care what you or the law says.

Land the helicopter, mommy.

why don't you be a parent and take your own kid's phone away if it's such an issue?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for the kids who sit alone and have no friends in their lunch period. They are the ones who now have to sit there looking around at other kids in groups.

And how exactly would staring at their phone during lunch develop their social skills? Maybe now they will look at a neighbor who is also sitting alone and figure out how to connect, develop their social skills, and improve their mental health. Screens are what got some kids into a pit of loneliness.

I applaud the district/state for trying to improve learning and connection, though I will miss being able to communicate a change in plans to my kid. Hope the main office is ready for the barrage of phone calls coming in to “please contact my kid about…”. And will they have a landline the kids can use to call home if needed? They can’t just cut parents off.

Every classroom and office has a landline in every school.

Kids will still turn their phones on immediately at the dismissal bell and see anything you’ve texted mid day, but schools also have always had procedures in place to contact kids in an urgent situation. I suspect once it is a smidgen of effort to contact kids, a lot of what seemed urgent to many of the parents will be able to wait until 3 pm.

It’s worked fine in middle schools where phones were completely restricted this year, it will work fine in high school too.

I'm a parent of a kid in another county with a ban. No the kids are not allowed to use the office phone or the classroom phones. If a parent calls the office with a message for your kid, they office policy is to EMAIL the kid. Which they will not get since they can't have their phones. It's a mess.

Clearly if there was a real emergency they would get ahold of your kid more quickly.

I applaud the school for emailing dumb sht like, “dad is going to pick you up instead of mom” or “don’t forget to walk the dog when you get home”. It can wait until 3:00 without issue.

Email can be accessed from laptops at lunch, texts can be read at 3:01.

you think laptops are out at lunch? no.

of course a true ER can get to my kid, but what about - the orthodontist can get you in at 1:30 pm to take care of that loose wire that's poking your cheek, so I will pick you up.

+1 this exactly. There are so many circumstances where my kid needs to check a quick text at lunch to solidify the after school plans. Waiting until 3 pm to be able to see it as they are rushing to the bus would not cut it.

Kids will adapt. Solidify after school plans the day before.

You’ve missed the entire point but no worries. We we all get around the rule.

The point is that you and your child are addicted to your phones and are really bad about making plans?

Sometimes plans come at the last minute. How hard is that to understand? My DS has had to stay after school to meet with a teacher on occasion; it helps when he can let me know before I leave work (I leave at 2:30) so I can head to the school instead of heading home.

Your kid can always ride the late bus home or walk, or meet with the teacher during the advisory block, or send them an email to arrange a meeting ahead of time for the following day when they’ve had a chance to talk to you, or pop over during passing period, or ask if they can stop by during lunch one day, or or or…

All of these are strategies my students use.

Sounds like your kid struggles with planning ahead too. Maybe the rule will help both of you learn to communicate ahead of time. Sounds like a win.

Another strategy is that my kid can quickly send me a text at lunch and save everyone time. Have fun fielding messages to your students in class!

This. My kid is graduating so I don't really care. But this new policy is sooo dumb. Probably being pushed by people with younger kids. I look forward to the inconvenience this causes all of you in a few years - have fun!

[Anonymous]

I work at one of the huge high schools. There are so few kids who actually have a 504 to have access to their phones. The first week or two there were some mixups, but after that there have been no issues. We know the 10 or so kids who need access to it out of the 2500 at the school. Split between three or four lunches. It’s only a few kids each lunch. It won’t take but a couple days before everyone knows is allowed to have their phones. Even then they won’t be allowed to be on Snapchat or Instagram, it will be checking their numbers or verifying why their device went off.

Please don’t use kids with medical issues to justify why all kids should have access to their phones. It is already this exact way in the classroom, nobody gets to access their phones except for the few kids who need it for medical reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Maybe if kid’s braces wire is bothering them, you talk in the morning before school.

“I’m going to call the orthodontist today to try to get you seen today or tomorrow. Are there any class periods that you absolutely don’t want to miss this week?”

I swear some of these parents are just too dumb to be able to plan ahead.

Executive dysfunction tends to run in families. Parents who can’t plan or make good decisions will have kids who can’t plan or make good decisions.

That is 100% false. Way to blame parents for special needs kids. You suck.

DP.

There is a strong genetic component related to executive dysfunction. Pointing out that scientific fact is not placing blame on anyone, but it is 100% FACT that genetics is strongly tied to executive dysfunction.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6986791/