Reply to DCI: Too much focus on tablets/devices?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]My thought, as a school administrator, is that preventing middle schoolers from accessing their devices during lunch and recess is unrealistic. Schools that attempt to do so either end up enforcing the rules randomly, which opens them up complaints of unequal treatment. Or they have policies that are in writing but not enforced, which sends the message to the kids that school rules can be ignored. Whichever way they go, the amount of teacher and administrator time that is spent enforcing, or negotiating, or explaining the rules is enormous and cuts into other important parts of a school mission. [/quote]

Sheesh I'm glad you're not the administrator at my DS middle school!  They have it figured out quite well, and it appears easily done. They simply require all personal electronics in lockers during the school day and confiscate them if they are ever seen. I think retrieval requires parental inconvenience:)  I'm sorry, but it's not rocket science. And it IS really important for chidden to have some imaginative space which is not formatted and controlled by scenarios and constructs devised by software developers![/quote]

Schools that have a "no cell phones, but only if we catch you" policy are basically teaching kids how to lie and hide things.  Kids still use cell phones in schools that don't allow them to be out.  They lock themselves in toilet stalls, and text under their desks, and spend long periods "looking for things" in their backpacks.  When you allow cell phones they aren't using them substantially more, they're just using them more publicly, which makes it easier for the adults to monitor, and more likely that they'll be using them in a social context.

And sorry, but no kid is having "imaginative space" in the lunch room.  They just aren't.  If you want that for your kid then confiscate their cell phone at the door of your house, and cut back on the aftercare activities.  [/quote]

+1 
This is all true.[/quote]
I think whatever school you people are representing needs to spend some time learning best practices in how to maintain standards and school culture from some schools that have done it succesfully. Obviously your school has other priorities than limiting cell phone use by middle school students during the school day. Schools that make it a priority--along with other standards of behavior--are able to do it. Parents have every right to know about and react positively or negatively to this aspect of a school. 
[/quote]

DP, totally agree with you.  The "it's not the school's job/schools are incapable of limiting tech use at lunch" poster has apparently not spent time in schools that understand how to do this - and the IMPORTANCE of doing it.[/quote]

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