FCPS Cell Phone Ban - Bell to Bell - the time is now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a teacher so I'll be the first to admit that if I was, I may care but as a parent I don't care if my kid is on a call phone or not. Is my kid doing in well in school? Yes? Great. That is my concern. My kid is in AP Classes and honors classes and has a 4.0 unweighted GPA. If he wants to use a cell phone sometimes and the teacher is not complaining about him, so be it. If I heard from the teacher that it was a problem, I would step in.

Yeah of course you don’t care. You’re not sitting in a room of zombie kids who are scrolling endlessly and not conversing, engaging, living their life. I can’t tell you how BLEAK it feels to look into a classroom and see that. I took my students on a field trip this year (10th grade)- the bus rides were silent. The kids were on their phones. Halfway through the field trip most of them just found a bench and sat down to scroll rather than actually explore. You think it’s not a big deal when it’s your one kid but it’s the entire cohort and society he’s growing up in that is like this. It’s not ok.

Which is also why telling parents to just not give their own kid a phone does NOT solve the issue here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a teacher so I'll be the first to admit that if I was, I may care but as a parent I don't care if my kid is on a call phone or not. Is my kid doing in well in school? Yes? Great. That is my concern. My kid is in AP Classes and honors classes and has a 4.0 unweighted GPA. If he wants to use a cell phone sometimes and the teacher is not complaining about him, so be it. If I heard from the teacher that it was a problem, I would step in.

Yeah of course you don’t care. You’re not sitting in a room of zombie kids who are scrolling endlessly and not conversing, engaging, living their life. I can’t tell you how BLEAK it feels to look into a classroom and see that. I took my students on a field trip this year (10th grade)- the bus rides were silent. The kids were on their phones. Halfway through the field trip most of them just found a bench and sat down to scroll rather than actually explore. You think it’s not a big deal when it’s your one kid but it’s the entire cohort and society he’s growing up in that is like this. It’s not ok.

My oldest is so fed up with peers who cannot communicate verbally. He has a cell phone but he is desperate for people to talk IRL not text. And he is annoyed by teachers who are hamstrung or have given up on his peers cell phone use. Many times in HS PE they sit and do nothing, so out come the phones. It sucks.

My son is now in a private school with a bell-to-bell ban on phones. The difference in communication skills between the public and private kids is stark and really disappointing. The kids at his private school actually play during PE. They are constantly chattering and playing with each other. Obviously the teacher still has to deal with the usual lack of attention one would expect from kids his age, but it's nothing like at his old school. I was kind of lukewarm on phones until I saw how much of a difference it made to not have them.

I’m a teacher PP and have been saying for awhile the biggest difference you’re going to see between the quality of public vs private education in the coming years will come down to the privates that ban phones and the publics that don’t. Everything else will largely even out and privates are not better than public typically but the ones that ban screens and phones WILL see noticeable differences and it will set them apart from the sub-par public education kids will get between looking ar their phone all day.

DP. I'm a teacher and totally agree. The exclusive privates will advertise "screen free" school days, with the possible exception of laptop carts in classrooms that are used very sparingly or 1:1 laptops that stay at home to be used during student illness or other emergencies where the child cannot attend school. Cell phone bans will be strictly enforced and parents will pay big money for it to happen. Those who won't follow the rules get kicked out.

I'm the private school parent and the "no phones" policy was a huge selling point for us. The school is overall fairly low-tech. The kids write their essays. Only longer assignments and state assessments are done on the computer and there are no 1:1 laptops. They do computer lab time, but it's primarily for understanding the technology and how to use the software. Hard copy books only. If he misses school, I go to the school in person to pick up a packet of work for him to make up. He does have an Apple Watch for the walk to and from school, but he has to put it away as soon as he enters the building and can't put it back on until the bell rings. They enforce strictly. In the couple of years since he transferred from his public school, I've seen huge gains in his focus and motor skills because he's having to use both more frequently. He still gets his ipad time in the evenings, but I'm okay with it because I know that he's not seeing a single screen at school.

That sounds absolutely heavenly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a teacher so I'll be the first to admit that if I was, I may care but as a parent I don't care if my kid is on a call phone or not. Is my kid doing in well in school? Yes? Great. That is my concern. My kid is in AP Classes and honors classes and has a 4.0 unweighted GPA. If he wants to use a cell phone sometimes and the teacher is not complaining about him, so be it. If I heard from the teacher that it was a problem, I would step in.

Yeah of course you don’t care. You’re not sitting in a room of zombie kids who are scrolling endlessly and not conversing, engaging, living their life. I can’t tell you how BLEAK it feels to look into a classroom and see that. I took my students on a field trip this year (10th grade)- the bus rides were silent. The kids were on their phones. Halfway through the field trip most of them just found a bench and sat down to scroll rather than actually explore. You think it’s not a big deal when it’s your one kid but it’s the entire cohort and society he’s growing up in that is like this. It’s not ok.

My oldest is so fed up with peers who cannot communicate verbally. He has a cell phone but he is desperate for people to talk IRL not text. And he is annoyed by teachers who are hamstrung or have given up on his peers cell phone use. Many times in HS PE they sit and do nothing, so out come the phones. It sucks.

My son is now in a private school with a bell-to-bell ban on phones. The difference in communication skills between the public and private kids is stark and really disappointing. The kids at his private school actually play during PE. They are constantly chattering and playing with each other. Obviously the teacher still has to deal with the usual lack of attention one would expect from kids his age, but it's nothing like at his old school. I was kind of lukewarm on phones until I saw how much of a difference it made to not have them.

I’m a teacher PP and have been saying for awhile the biggest difference you’re going to see between the quality of public vs private education in the coming years will come down to the privates that ban phones and the publics that don’t. Everything else will largely even out and privates are not better than public typically but the ones that ban screens and phones WILL see noticeable differences and it will set them apart from the sub-par public education kids will get between looking ar their phone all day.

DP. I'm a teacher and totally agree. The exclusive privates will advertise "screen free" school days, with the possible exception of laptop carts in classrooms that are used very sparingly or 1:1 laptops that stay at home to be used during student illness or other emergencies where the child cannot attend school. Cell phone bans will be strictly enforced and parents will pay big money for it to happen. Those who won't follow the rules get kicked out.

Please list the “exclusive privates” that will be advertising such a policy. I worked for 2 “exclusive” privates and screen usage was far worse than in FCPS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HS teacher. I appreciate your efforts, OP, but your petition is defective. We already have this policy in the SR&R and a policy without consequences is worthless. Your petition needs to advocate for real consequences that hurt for being caught with a phone out. Maybe not as harsh as being caught with drugs, but real consequences. Otherwise you are wasting your time.

I echo the teacher above who said she doesn't get paid enough to deal with phone disruption. I'm teaching. Your kid prefers Tiktok to learning? Your problem.

The current policy in the SR&R for high school states that students can only use the hand held device for educational use at the teacher's discretion. This only applies to the classroom. Hallways and lunchtime are free for phone use under the current policy. 100% this classroom policy is not enforced. I had a FCPS school board member admit to me that they didn't really have a plan for enforcement when this policy was put in place, which is ridiculous and a huge disservice to teachers and students. It looks good in the news, but in practice means nothing.

The petition calls for a bell to bell ban. Yondr pouches cost money, yes, but as another alternative, students could come into school, go to their last period class and place their phone in a phone caddy or locker, go about their school day, phone free and in person in the classroom, hallways and lunch and then retrieve their phone as they leave at the end of the day.

This takes leadership and vision so that teachers can concentrate on their job, not phones.

Parents and coaches have dealt with kids not having access to a phone all day just a few short years ago. We can remember how.