Cell phone ban in schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I want to be able to reach my child. It’s not like they have pay phones. We’ve had issues where I needed to get my kid.

You can reach your child. You call the front office. You ask to have your child brought down to talk to them. Or, if you need to come pick your kid, you let the school know and they'll communicate that.

Your anxiety and/or entitlement are your problem. Adolescents having unlimited access to cellphones is an enormous societal problem - but it's one we can actually do something about.

Its not the secretary's job and there are 2600 students. That's not reasonable.

You are entitled and have anxiety. You also want others to parent your kids for you. You are on your phone complaining. Bizzare.

2600 kids are not calling home every day. I almost never communicate with my kid during the school day.

[Anonymous]

Keeping phones in backpacks doesn’t work for most kids. At least 60% of students are addicted to their phones. They don’t even realize they have pulled their phone out and are scrolling on insta. It has become an ingrained unconscious habit. And kids have lost the ability to even sit for 1 minute without something to do. If I’m passing out papers in class, kids pull out their phones because they are not used to waiting for a couple of minutes without their phones. Parents who are against the cell phone ban - I wish I could invite you to spend one day in my classroom. I think you would be shocked at what you see and would change your mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have new leadership - this is an opportunity. And now there is precedent in other districts. Should MCCPTA take it up? How else can we organize?

Let's start with flooding this feedback survey that was distributed https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe1FjIocrzRVrNUBnCFEycQx_EjRh6muezolPulbtQWJp8Gcg/viewform?pli=1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Keeping phones in backpacks doesn’t work for most kids. At least 60% of students are addicted to their phones. They don’t even realize they have pulled their phone out and are scrolling on insta. It has become an ingrained unconscious habit. And kids have lost the ability to even sit for 1 minute without something to do. If I’m passing out papers in class, kids pull out their phones because they are not used to waiting for a couple of minutes without their phones. Parents who are against the cell phone ban - I wish I could invite you to spend one day in my classroom. I think you would be shocked at what you see and would change your mind.

Exactly. They have no idea how to be bored, which I have found also has completely stifled their creativity. When we were bored, we had to create/invent things to do to keep ourselves entertained. They have no interest in anything other than their phones. It is REALLY bad. I know there will be posters here saying "but not MY kid..." If your kid has a phone, yes your kid. You're not in the classroom with them on a daily basis, you have no idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Twice last year my teen texted me because they were evacuated for bomb threats. When I don’t have to worry about my kid’s safety during the school day, I’ll support a cell phone ban.

But you dont need an apple phone to do so......

Yall are just so ingrained in phone society that you cant think your way through how a) to improve kids mental health and wellbeing and addiction while also b) being able to communicate with your kid

Lets also note that parents get notifications anytime the school is locked down or evacuated. You should not need 1:1 handholding. Your kid having a phone is not more likely to help them survive. It just makes YOU feel better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Twice last year my teen texted me because they were evacuated for bomb threats. When I don’t have to worry about my kid’s safety during the school day, I’ll support a cell phone ban.

So rather than following the instructions of the adults that were with them, they were texting you. And what exactly did they expect you to do at that moment? If you go to the school, you’re just adding to the chaos. The police aren’t going to let you walk into the building and pick up your kid.

So tell me what exactly does the ability to text your kid during a bomb scare do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I want to be able to reach my child. It’s not like they have pay phones. We’ve had issues where I needed to get my kid.

You can reach your child. You call the front office. You ask to have your child brought down to talk to them. Or, if you need to come pick your kid, you let the school know and they'll communicate that.

Your anxiety and/or entitlement are your problem. Adolescents having unlimited access to cellphones is an enormous societal problem - but it's one we can actually do something about.

Its not the secretary's job and there are 2600 students. That's not reasonable.

You are entitled and have anxiety. You also want others to parent your kids for you. You are on your phone complaining. Bizzare.

1. Yes, it literally is the secretary’s job.
2. It happens rarely, so can easily be handled over the course of a day.
3. The bolded is one of the clearest examples of projection I have ever seen, and that’s saying something.

[Anonymous]

I’m confused by this because my kids have told me about peoples phones getting confiscated during school. My impression is that the policy is already there prohibiting phone use during school but the enforcement isn’t there because it’s too hard to enforce.

My impression is that the kids know which teachers enforce the rule, or when, and which don’t. Some of the teachers are okay with it after you’ve turned in your assignment for the day and some aren’t. Sometimes they have subs who aren’t teaching anything at all (like a weeklong Spanish sub who doesn’t speak any Spanish) and they use the phones then.

I guess my question for the teachers is — what do you need in order to feel like you can en force this in your classroom? Do you need admin to just back you up if you send a kid down to the office for this? Or the permission to take the phone and hold it until the end of the day? I think that’s what they do in private schools. I’d be okay with that. I tell my kids it should stay in their backpack and if it gets seen and taken, that’s their own fault. (My kids don’t have functioning lockers so can’t put them there.)

[Anonymous]

This is a good question. They revised the policy 2 years ago, and from what I can tell it still gives a lot of discretion to teachers/schools. I could see why it would be hard for some teachers to assert themselves, when they and the kids know that they don't technically have to prohibit them from the classroom at all times. https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/press/index.aspx?pagetype=showrelease&id=13192

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a good question. They revised the policy 2 years ago, and from what I can tell it still gives a lot of discretion to teachers/schools. I could see why it would be hard for some teachers to assert themselves, when they and the kids know that they don't technically have to prohibit them from the classroom at all times. https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/press/index.aspx?pagetype=showrelease&id=13192

First of all, it is unfair to put the burden on teachers. Many rookie teachers feel uncomfortable enforcing it and some older teachers just don’t care and don’t bother enforcing it. This creates an uneven landscape in school which can be confusing for some students. Second, if teachers have to play cell phone police, 5-15 minutes of every class is wasted trying to get kids to put their phones away as there are always a few repeat offenders or kids who will argue about putting it away or insist that mom is about to call for an emergency, etc. Third, at my highschool, teachers have no backup from administrators or security. We are not allowed to send kids to the office and security will not do anything unless there is a fight in the classroom or someone is visibly intoxicated. We have also been told by the principal that we are not allowed to touch student cell phones or take them due to liability concerns. This means that if a kid refuses to put their phone away, there is almost nothing that we can do. Admin tell us to call home if a kid is non-compliant. I have called home and either the parent is non-responsive or they take their kid’s side and claim I am unfairly targeting their child. Sometimes the parent agrees with me and the kid is compliant for the next 3-4 days and then we repeat the entire cycle again. It is an exhausting and draining process that negatively affects teaching for the entire class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I want to be able to reach my child. It’s not like they have pay phones. We’ve had issues where I needed to get my kid.

You can reach your child. You call the front office. You ask to have your child brought down to talk to them. Or, if you need to come pick your kid, you let the school know and they'll communicate that.

Your anxiety and/or entitlement are your problem. Adolescents having unlimited access to cellphones is an enormous societal problem - but it's one we can actually do something about.

Its not the secretary's job and there are 2600 students. That's not reasonable.

You are entitled and have anxiety. You also want others to parent your kids for you. You are on your phone complaining. Bizzare.

2600 kids are not calling home every day. I almost never communicate with my kid during the school day.

Maybe there is a reason for that. Mine usually say hi at lunch or if its important for me to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a good question. They revised the policy 2 years ago, and from what I can tell it still gives a lot of discretion to teachers/schools. I could see why it would be hard for some teachers to assert themselves, when they and the kids know that they don't technically have to prohibit them from the classroom at all times. https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/press/index.aspx?pagetype=showrelease&id=13192

First of all, it is unfair to put the burden on teachers. Many rookie teachers feel uncomfortable enforcing it and some older teachers just don’t care and don’t bother enforcing it. This creates an uneven landscape in school which can be confusing for some students. Second, if teachers have to play cell phone police, 5-15 minutes of every class is wasted trying to get kids to put their phones away as there are always a few repeat offenders or kids who will argue about putting it away or insist that mom is about to call for an emergency, etc. Third, at my highschool, teachers have no backup from administrators or security. We are not allowed to send kids to the office and security will not do anything unless there is a fight in the classroom or someone is visibly intoxicated. We have also been told by the principal that we are not allowed to touch student cell phones or take them due to liability concerns. This means that if a kid refuses to put their phone away, there is almost nothing that we can do. Admin tell us to call home if a kid is non-compliant. I have called home and either the parent is non-responsive or they take their kid’s side and claim I am unfairly targeting their child. Sometimes the parent agrees with me and the kid is compliant for the next 3-4 days and then we repeat the entire cycle again. It is an exhausting and draining process that negatively affects teaching for the entire class

Teachers can tell parents. Some of us will deal with it at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused by this because my kids have told me about peoples phones getting confiscated during school. My impression is that the policy is already there prohibiting phone use during school but the enforcement isn’t there because it’s too hard to enforce.

My impression is that the kids know which teachers enforce the rule, or when, and which don’t. Some of the teachers are okay with it after you’ve turned in your assignment for the day and some aren’t. Sometimes they have subs who aren’t teaching anything at all (like a weeklong Spanish sub who doesn’t speak any Spanish) and they use the phones then.

I guess my question for the teachers is — what do you need in order to feel like you can en force this in your classroom? Do you need admin to just back you up if you send a kid down to the office for this? Or the permission to take the phone and hold it until the end of the day? I think that’s what they do in private schools. I’d be okay with that. I tell my kids it should stay in their backpack and if it gets seen and taken, that’s their own fault. (My kids don’t have functioning lockers so can’t put them there.)

Kids at our school only get lockers freshman year. And the school is so big and time between classes short they don’t use them. Comparing public to private is not helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I want to be able to reach my child. It’s not like they have pay phones. We’ve had issues where I needed to get my kid.

You can reach your child. You call the front office. You ask to have your child brought down to talk to them. Or, if you need to come pick your kid, you let the school know and they'll communicate that.

Your anxiety and/or entitlement are your problem. Adolescents having unlimited access to cellphones is an enormous societal problem - but it's one we can actually do something about.

Its not the secretary's job and there are 2600 students. That's not reasonable.

You are entitled and have anxiety. You also want others to parent your kids for you. You are on your phone complaining. Bizzare.

1. Yes, it literally is the secretary’s job.
2. It happens rarely, so can easily be handled over the course of a day.
3. The bolded is one of the clearest examples of projection I have ever seen, and that’s saying something.

No it’s not the secretary’s job. Maybe for elementary but not for high school.

My child’s schedule for band and theater regularly changes so they need to call several times per week or more and what happens if the pick up time changes and the office is closed after hours. And, with sports, one off campus that’s another massive coordination. If your kids are in no activities, maybe but we had pay phones growing up. They don’t now and they cannot text or call on school laptops.

So, uninvolved parent done of our kids do need phones to coordinate rides for themselves and your kids whom we drive because you will not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I want to be able to reach my child. It’s not like they have pay phones. We’ve had issues where I needed to get my kid.

You can reach your child. You call the front office. You ask to have your child brought down to talk to them. Or, if you need to come pick your kid, you let the school know and they'll communicate that.

Your anxiety and/or entitlement are your problem. Adolescents having unlimited access to cellphones is an enormous societal problem - but it's one we can actually do something about.

Its not the secretary's job and there are 2600 students. That's not reasonable.

You are entitled and have anxiety. You also want others to parent your kids for you. You are on your phone complaining. Bizzare.

2600 kids are not calling home every day. I almost never communicate with my kid during the school day.

Maybe there is a reason for that. Mine usually say hi at lunch or if its important for me to know.

Congratulations? Some of us don't feel the need to be tethered to our children all day long. Likewise, our kids don't feel the need to text mommy at lunch. It doesn't make you a better parent. It doesn't make us lesser parents. We have jobs and lives. So do our kids. You keep trying to make everyone else sound incompetent when really you just sound like an extremely insecure person who projects your on shortcomings on everyone else in this thread.