Cell phone ban in schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the common refrain - parents know best - has caused a lot of damage. There are so many clueless and dumb parents and letting them rule the roost is a big mistake.
All the experts say it is time to get cell phones out of schools. Why is MCPS not listening to them

I do not think parents rule at MCPS at all. If that were the case, the Ethiopian/Muslim parents who were protesting the removal of the ELA LGBT opt-out would have gotten their way. Same thing for the MVA, which was cancelled despite those parents being very vocal about that not being their desired outcome.

Are there individual parents who make noise and are inconvenient? Sure. But parents have very weak and limited power in MCPS.

The cell phone issue has far more to do with inept, lazy admin who don't want to do their job or get their hands dirty with enforcing the cell phone policy. Some of that is because many admin lack communication, diplomacy and decision making skills that are required to build the trust and consensus that is required to make a cell phone policy ban actually work. And MCPS's top brass refuses to recognize this competence gap and just keeps pushing the problem down to school-based leadership, regardless of how well school-based leadership implements or doesn't implement these policies.

Our current failed state with phones in schools is due to the ongoing crisis of leadership in MCPS, not parents.

The BOE needs to go. However, parents are the ones who decide about pone usage and parents can choose not to send a phone with their kids. I think it interesting the most vocal send their kids with phones to school. If you are against it don't give your kid one. Simple. In less MCPS puts in pay phones, for us, we will send a phone home.

This post is barely literate but I can make out the gist of it. No- the district decides the rules and regulations of a school-NOT parents. Simple. If they say no cellphones, then no cellphones. Just like your kid can’t bring a weapon to school even if you as a parent think your kid needs to carry a gun for protection. See how that works?

We don't have a no cell phone policy and my children will be going with cell phones as MCPS schools have serious safety and communication issues. See how that works. If there is a gun in the school, I want my kid to call me so I can come get them. Great example of WHY we need cell phones in the school. School shooters for one.

Cellphones aren’t going to save your kids in a school shooting incident. Yes, everyone’s aware there’s no cellphone policy in place which is why people are discussing it on this forum. Are you new to the planet or just the internet?

They can call 911.

911 needs one call

Not 500

There are no pay phones or phones accessible to kids.

You missed the point. Not shocking. Pay phones are not necessary to report a school shooting.

You are missing the point and you aren't answering if you send your MS and HS kids with phones. The answer is yes, and you don't want to supervise it so you want the school to do it for you. My kid has multiple activities at school and outside school. The school ones often change the times/days with little notice so we need to know for pick up. We don't get a bus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admin to teachers:
"We have a cell phone policy, but we are not enforcing it. It's too much work for us."
Also Admin:
"You are not engaging your students enough. They are on their phones instead of participating."
Also Admin:
"Grades are down. Have you told students to put phones away? Have you built a relationship? Have you called home about phone use?"

YUP! Perfectly summarized the issue. As I said, admin are the biggest problem in the cell phone equation.

No, parents are. Ultimately they are responsible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admin to teachers:
"We have a cell phone policy, but we are not enforcing it. It's too much work for us."
Also Admin:
"You are not engaging your students enough. They are on their phones instead of participating."
Also Admin:
"Grades are down. Have you told students to put phones away? Have you built a relationship? Have you called home about phone use?"

YUP! Perfectly summarized the issue. As I said, admin are the biggest problem in the cell phone equation.

No, parents are. Ultimately they are responsible.

Hey, admin. Do better. You have the power to implement cell phone bans in your school. Muster up the courage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admin to teachers:
"We have a cell phone policy, but we are not enforcing it. It's too much work for us."
Also Admin:
"You are not engaging your students enough. They are on their phones instead of participating."
Also Admin:
"Grades are down. Have you told students to put phones away? Have you built a relationship? Have you called home about phone use?"

YUP! Perfectly summarized the issue. As I said, admin are the biggest problem in the cell phone equation.

No, parents are. Ultimately they are responsible.

Hey, admin. Do better. You have the power to implement cell phone bans in your school. Muster up the courage.

I'm a parent who takes responsibility for my kids, so the question is why don't you? Why do you give your kids things like phones, and absolve yourself of responsibility and expect others to deal with it? Time for you to step up and parent and stop complaining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the common refrain - parents know best - has caused a lot of damage. There are so many clueless and dumb parents and letting them rule the roost is a big mistake.
All the experts say it is time to get cell phones out of schools. Why is MCPS not listening to them

I do not think parents rule at MCPS at all. If that were the case, the Ethiopian/Muslim parents who were protesting the removal of the ELA LGBT opt-out would have gotten their way. Same thing for the MVA, which was cancelled despite those parents being very vocal about that not being their desired outcome.

Are there individual parents who make noise and are inconvenient? Sure. But parents have very weak and limited power in MCPS.

The cell phone issue has far more to do with inept, lazy admin who don't want to do their job or get their hands dirty with enforcing the cell phone policy. Some of that is because many admin lack communication, diplomacy and decision making skills that are required to build the trust and consensus that is required to make a cell phone policy ban actually work. And MCPS's top brass refuses to recognize this competence gap and just keeps pushing the problem down to school-based leadership, regardless of how well school-based leadership implements or doesn't implement these policies.

Our current failed state with phones in schools is due to the ongoing crisis of leadership in MCPS, not parents.

The BOE needs to go. However, parents are the ones who decide about pone usage and parents can choose not to send a phone with their kids. I think it interesting the most vocal send their kids with phones to school. If you are against it don't give your kid one. Simple. In less MCPS puts in pay phones, for us, we will send a phone home.

This post is barely literate but I can make out the gist of it. No- the district decides the rules and regulations of a school-NOT parents. Simple. If they say no cellphones, then no cellphones. Just like your kid can’t bring a weapon to school even if you as a parent think your kid needs to carry a gun for protection. See how that works?

We don't have a no cell phone policy and my children will be going with cell phones as MCPS schools have serious safety and communication issues. See how that works. If there is a gun in the school, I want my kid to call me so I can come get them. Great example of WHY we need cell phones in the school. School shooters for one.

Cellphones aren’t going to save your kids in a school shooting incident. Yes, everyone’s aware there’s no cellphone policy in place which is why people are discussing it on this forum. Are you new to the planet or just the internet?

They can call 911.

911 needs one call

Not 500

There are no pay phones or phones accessible to kids.

You missed the point. Not shocking. Pay phones are not necessary to report a school shooting.

You are missing the point and you aren't answering if you send your MS and HS kids with phones. The answer is yes, and you don't want to supervise it so you want the school to do it for you. My kid has multiple activities at school and outside school. The school ones often change the times/days with little notice so we need to know for pick up. We don't get a bus.

We know. You won’t shut up about it. No, I don’t send my kids to school with phones. They have activities too. (Like most kids-yours are not special.) guess what? We all survive just fine. You make very strange assumptions about people without knowing anything about them. You seem to think “good parenting” all boils down to sending a kid to school with a phone. Such a strange way of thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the common refrain - parents know best - has caused a lot of damage. There are so many clueless and dumb parents and letting them rule the roost is a big mistake.
All the experts say it is time to get cell phones out of schools. Why is MCPS not listening to them

I do not think parents rule at MCPS at all. If that were the case, the Ethiopian/Muslim parents who were protesting the removal of the ELA LGBT opt-out would have gotten their way. Same thing for the MVA, which was cancelled despite those parents being very vocal about that not being their desired outcome.

Are there individual parents who make noise and are inconvenient? Sure. But parents have very weak and limited power in MCPS.

The cell phone issue has far more to do with inept, lazy admin who don't want to do their job or get their hands dirty with enforcing the cell phone policy. Some of that is because many admin lack communication, diplomacy and decision making skills that are required to build the trust and consensus that is required to make a cell phone policy ban actually work. And MCPS's top brass refuses to recognize this competence gap and just keeps pushing the problem down to school-based leadership, regardless of how well school-based leadership implements or doesn't implement these policies.

Our current failed state with phones in schools is due to the ongoing crisis of leadership in MCPS, not parents.

The BOE needs to go. However, parents are the ones who decide about pone usage and parents can choose not to send a phone with their kids. I think it interesting the most vocal send their kids with phones to school. If you are against it don't give your kid one. Simple. In less MCPS puts in pay phones, for us, we will send a phone home.

This post is barely literate but I can make out the gist of it. No- the district decides the rules and regulations of a school-NOT parents. Simple. If they say no cellphones, then no cellphones. Just like your kid can’t bring a weapon to school even if you as a parent think your kid needs to carry a gun for protection. See how that works?

We don't have a no cell phone policy and my children will be going with cell phones as MCPS schools have serious safety and communication issues. See how that works. If there is a gun in the school, I want my kid to call me so I can come get them. Great example of WHY we need cell phones in the school. School shooters for one.

Cellphones aren’t going to save your kids in a school shooting incident. Yes, everyone’s aware there’s no cellphone policy in place which is why people are discussing it on this forum. Are you new to the planet or just the internet?

They can call 911.

911 needs one call

Not 500

There are no pay phones or phones accessible to kids.

You missed the point. Not shocking. Pay phones are not necessary to report a school shooting.

You are missing the point and you aren't answering if you send your MS and HS kids with phones. The answer is yes, and you don't want to supervise it so you want the school to do it for you. My kid has multiple activities at school and outside school. The school ones often change the times/days with little notice so we need to know for pick up. We don't get a bus.

Maybe learn to check your email during the day. Ours email every parent on the team as soon as there is a change. If they don’t- ask them to. Incredibly simple yet you seem to think it’s the most difficult thing without a phone. Outside activities? We always get texts from the coaches/program coordinators. If they don’t- ASK. You sound incompetent while also so self assured… terrifying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Admin to teachers:
"We have a cell phone policy, but we are not enforcing it. It's too much work for us."
Also Admin:
"You are not engaging your students enough. They are on their phones instead of participating."
Also Admin:
"Grades are down. Have you told students to put phones away? Have you built a relationship? Have you called home about phone use?"

This is exactly what happens at my school. Besides making teachers frustrated, the kids are the ones who really suffer because they are constantly distracted by all the phones.

When they are not on their phones themselves, they are watching other kids make tik tok videos in school, hearing who posted what about a classmate on social media, etc. It’s become so much harder for students to learn at school and parents have no idea!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admin to teachers:
"We have a cell phone policy, but we are not enforcing it. It's too much work for us."
Also Admin:
"You are not engaging your students enough. They are on their phones instead of participating."
Also Admin:
"Grades are down. Have you told students to put phones away? Have you built a relationship? Have you called home about phone use?"

This is exactly what happens at my school. Besides making teachers frustrated, the kids are the ones who really suffer because they are constantly distracted by all the phones.

When they are not on their phones themselves, they are watching other kids make tik tok videos in school, hearing who posted what about a classmate on social media, etc. It’s become so much harder for students to learn at school and parents have no idea!

Exactly. The parents advocating here for cellphones in classrooms have no idea what goes on in a classroom despite attempting to act like authorities on the matter. Our admin actually said last year, “the kids are addicted. Imagine trying to take away a crack addicts fix. They’d have the same response.” Seems that the parents and kids are running the schools instead of the people in charge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admin to teachers:
"We have a cell phone policy, but we are not enforcing it. It's too much work for us."
Also Admin:
"You are not engaging your students enough. They are on their phones instead of participating."
Also Admin:
"Grades are down. Have you told students to put phones away? Have you built a relationship? Have you called home about phone use?"

This is exactly what happens at my school. Besides making teachers frustrated, the kids are the ones who really suffer because they are constantly distracted by all the phones.

When they are not on their phones themselves, they are watching other kids make tik tok videos in school, hearing who posted what about a classmate on social media, etc. It’s become so much harder for students to learn at school and parents have no idea!

Exactly. The parents advocating here for cellphones in classrooms have no idea what goes on in a classroom despite attempting to act like authorities on the matter. Our admin actually said last year, “the kids are addicted. Imagine trying to take away a crack addicts fix. They’d have the same response.” Seems that the parents and kids are running the schools instead of the people in charge.

I have a sense of what goes on in a classroom. In 7th grade science they play an amoeba sisters video and then ask the kids to write a paragraph that answers some questions. For the students who are below grade level, their doc has all kinds of sentence starters and it’s essentially a Mad Lib where they just fill in a few blanks. The other kids just regurgitate what was in the video in a 5 sentence paragraph. They are given 30 minutes to complete this exercise when it takes my child 5 minutes. There is no enrichment offered. They can play “approved” games on the Chromebook for the remainder of that time. They are bored to death and there is no teaching going on. These same science topics were covered in 5th grade CES with an outstanding teacher who brought everything to life with creative planning, projects, and hands on lessons. The kids can tell the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admin to teachers:
"We have a cell phone policy, but we are not enforcing it. It's too much work for us."
Also Admin:
"You are not engaging your students enough. They are on their phones instead of participating."
Also Admin:
"Grades are down. Have you told students to put phones away? Have you built a relationship? Have you called home about phone use?"

This is exactly what happens at my school. Besides making teachers frustrated, the kids are the ones who really suffer because they are constantly distracted by all the phones.

When they are not on their phones themselves, they are watching other kids make tik tok videos in school, hearing who posted what about a classmate on social media, etc. It’s become so much harder for students to learn at school and parents have no idea!

Exactly. The parents advocating here for cellphones in classrooms have no idea what goes on in a classroom despite attempting to act like authorities on the matter. Our admin actually said last year, “the kids are addicted. Imagine trying to take away a crack addicts fix. They’d have the same response.” Seems that the parents and kids are running the schools instead of the people in charge.

I have a sense of what goes on in a classroom. In 7th grade science they play an amoeba sisters video and then ask the kids to write a paragraph that answers some questions. For the students who are below grade level, their doc has all kinds of sentence starters and it’s essentially a Mad Lib where they just fill in a few blanks. The other kids just regurgitate what was in the video in a 5 sentence paragraph. They are given 30 minutes to complete this exercise when it takes my child 5 minutes. There is no enrichment offered. They can play “approved” games on the Chromebook for the remainder of that time. They are bored to death and there is no teaching going on. These same science topics were covered in 5th grade CES with an outstanding teacher who brought everything to life with creative planning, projects, and hands on lessons. The kids can tell the difference.

Yup. Another parent with zero clue. Hint: before you make posts with blatant lies, remember the curriculum is the same county wide, not school wide. We all know this isn’t true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admin to teachers:
"We have a cell phone policy, but we are not enforcing it. It's too much work for us."
Also Admin:
"You are not engaging your students enough. They are on their phones instead of participating."
Also Admin:
"Grades are down. Have you told students to put phones away? Have you built a relationship? Have you called home about phone use?"

This is exactly what happens at my school. Besides making teachers frustrated, the kids are the ones who really suffer because they are constantly distracted by all the phones.

When they are not on their phones themselves, they are watching other kids make tik tok videos in school, hearing who posted what about a classmate on social media, etc. It’s become so much harder for students to learn at school and parents have no idea!

Exactly. The parents advocating here for cellphones in classrooms have no idea what goes on in a classroom despite attempting to act like authorities on the matter. Our admin actually said last year, “the kids are addicted. Imagine trying to take away a crack addicts fix. They’d have the same response.” Seems that the parents and kids are running the schools instead of the people in charge.

I have a sense of what goes on in a classroom. In 7th grade science they play an amoeba sisters video and then ask the kids to write a paragraph that answers some questions. For the students who are below grade level, their doc has all kinds of sentence starters and it’s essentially a Mad Lib where they just fill in a few blanks. The other kids just regurgitate what was in the video in a 5 sentence paragraph. They are given 30 minutes to complete this exercise when it takes my child 5 minutes. There is no enrichment offered. They can play “approved” games on the Chromebook for the remainder of that time. They are bored to death and there is no teaching going on. These same science topics were covered in 5th grade CES with an outstanding teacher who brought everything to life with creative planning, projects, and hands on lessons. The kids can tell the difference.

That activity is designed as a writing activity. There is a lot of writing in MS science courses now.

The issue you are really pointing out its is that students are so overstimulated by technology writing and other important traditional learning activities can’t compete for student attention. Best way to manage this is to completely remove the distractions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admin to teachers:
"We have a cell phone policy, but we are not enforcing it. It's too much work for us."
Also Admin:
"You are not engaging your students enough. They are on their phones instead of participating."
Also Admin:
"Grades are down. Have you told students to put phones away? Have you built a relationship? Have you called home about phone use?"

This is exactly what happens at my school. Besides making teachers frustrated, the kids are the ones who really suffer because they are constantly distracted by all the phones.

When they are not on their phones themselves, they are watching other kids make tik tok videos in school, hearing who posted what about a classmate on social media, etc. It’s become so much harder for students to learn at school and parents have no idea!

Exactly. The parents advocating here for cellphones in classrooms have no idea what goes on in a classroom despite attempting to act like authorities on the matter. Our admin actually said last year, “the kids are addicted. Imagine trying to take away a crack addicts fix. They’d have the same response.” Seems that the parents and kids are running the schools instead of the people in charge.

I have a sense of what goes on in a classroom. In 7th grade science they play an amoeba sisters video and then ask the kids to write a paragraph that answers some questions. For the students who are below grade level, their doc has all kinds of sentence starters and it’s essentially a Mad Lib where they just fill in a few blanks. The other kids just regurgitate what was in the video in a 5 sentence paragraph. They are given 30 minutes to complete this exercise when it takes my child 5 minutes. There is no enrichment offered. They can play “approved” games on the Chromebook for the remainder of that time. They are bored to death and there is no teaching going on. These same science topics were covered in 5th grade CES with an outstanding teacher who brought everything to life with creative planning, projects, and hands on lessons. The kids can tell the difference.

That activity is designed as a writing activity. There is a lot of writing in MS science courses now.

The issue you are really pointing out its is that students are so overstimulated by technology writing and other important traditional learning activities can’t compete for student attention. Best way to manage this is to completely remove the distractions.

DP. My kid and most of her friends bring books. Sometimes I think there is a massive disconnect between what parents with kids at Cooper or Thoreay and parents with kids at Whitman or Key. If your kid understands the material, they spend most of the class bored. If the teacher spends time working with kids who are behind, then the might as well take a nap

[Anonymous]

So 32 pages to discuss a fictional cell phone ban that isn't happening?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So 32 pages to discuss a fictional cell phone ban that isn't happening?

Yup. MCPS knows it is a big problem but throws up their hands claiming there is nothing they can do. Same as with school start times. We are a real ‘can do’ district!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So 32 pages to discuss a fictional cell phone ban that isn't happening?

School hasn’t started yet. You have no idea what could happen. People are here to discuss the idea. Welcome to the internet.