There has to be a system where phones and watches are turned in or put in touches. Otherwise there will be no enforcement.

I think it will also be an adjustment for the teachers, many of whom rely on the kids’ having phones to do work in class (as reported by my JR kid).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad to see this but as someone with a kid at an elementary school that already technically bans cell phones, good luck enforcing. At that age, the parents are giving them phones on purpose (for safety, for convenience, for both) and will help them smuggle it in.

It has been really frustrating to watch it proliferate. We're leaving the school and going to another elementary that doesn't seem to have this issue, but I don't know how you control it when the parents WANT their kids to have phones.

There’s no “smuggling.” The students are not prohibited from physically having phones, they’re prohibited from having them on, or from holding them in their hand or pocket. So a parent who wants their kid to have a phone for emergencies or to coordinate after school wouldn’t be undermining the policy at all.

This makes no sense. The plan is for MS and HS to have kids turn phones in or put them in pouches where they can't be used. So presumably that is also the plan for elementary. But elementary is harder because it's only a portion of the kids who have phones, and yes many of them will lie and yes many of their parents will tell them to lie. They don't want their kids to have get the phones from the office or out of a pouch in order to use them. As I said, safety/emergencies are one reason parents do this, but convenience is the other, and we're not talking about parents who are simply coordinating after school pick up. They want the convenience of being able to text their kid at 10am.

If you have not been in one of the elementary schools where this is a problem, you don't understand the cultural issue here. Simply passing a cellphone ban is not going to do it. You need community buy in and it is going to be hard to get at certain schools.

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad to see this but as someone with a kid at an elementary school that already technically bans cell phones, good luck enforcing. At that age, the parents are giving them phones on purpose (for safety, for convenience, for both) and will help them smuggle it in.

It has been really frustrating to watch it proliferate. We're leaving the school and going to another elementary that doesn't seem to have this issue, but I don't know how you control it when the parents WANT their kids to have phones.

There’s no “smuggling.” The students are not prohibited from physically having phones, they’re prohibited from having them on, or from holding them in their hand or pocket. So a parent who wants their kid to have a phone for emergencies or to coordinate after school wouldn’t be undermining the policy at all.

As someone mentioned, middle schools have successfully implemented this policy already. When students enter, they immediately turn in their phone to the appropriate box before going through security. This can be easily replicated at the HS level. For elementary, they will first need to figure out who actually has a phone (which will require honesty at first) so they can keep track of turning phones in at the entrance. What they definitely shouldn’t do is rely on teachers to collect phones at the beginning of class or when they see them.

I'm glad to see this but as someone with a kid at an elementary school that already technically bans cell phones, good luck enforcing. At that age, the parents are giving them phones on purpose (for safety, for convenience, for both) and will help them smuggle it in.

It has been really frustrating to watch it proliferate. We're leaving the school and going to another elementary that doesn't seem to have this issue, but I don't know how you control it when the parents WANT their kids to have phones.

I’m glad they are also including watches!

How are they going to enforce at JRHS? I assume yonder pouches or essentially no enforcement.

Anonymous wrote:Kids at Banneker already have this policy. It’s fantastic! My kid has completely changed their relationship with their cellphone.

Yep. My 25-year-old went to Banneker. Back then, the kids would pay $5 a month to the corner store next to the school so they could drop their cell phones off in the morning and pick them up after school. Eventually, the PTA got smart and installed cell phone lockers in the entryway and started charging students a fee to use them.

Kids at Banneker already have this policy. It’s fantastic! My kid has completely changed their relationship with their cellphone.

I hope our charter follows suit! (Or does this already apply to charters?)

This is a good idea, although I'd rather see them ban all devices and eliminate learning on computers. Bring back text books!

Great decision! Way to go, DCPS!

Anonymous wrote:https://dcps.dc.gov/cellphones

I am so happy to hear this was passed! I am sure there will be bumps as they figure out implementation, but the DCPS middle schools already do this, as do some high schools - so they will have examples to learn from.

Finally! This is definitely promising for a better learning environment.