I work in a middle school in FCPS that has had this policy since the first day of school this year (no pouches, just away for the day). TWO kids are at the point that they need to check their phones in/out every day. Out of 1000 kids. That means they have been caught with their phones 4 times. 2/1000. This is my 19th year in a MS. It's the best year behaviorally since at least 2017. The kids are more engaged, there are no arguments with teachers over their phones and we've gone from 1-2 fights a week to ZERO this school year. The bathroom meet ups to vape and fight are non-existent. The only thing that's changed from last year (or the previous 7-8 years) is the phone policy. I will have a middle schooler next year and I am so thankful that APS is adopting this policy for all APS kids but especially my own.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I look forward to asking the front office staff to go find my child the next time I have to pick her up early for a doctor's appointment, since I can't just send her a text that I'm here. I'm sure they'll love having to go find her.

Have you ever actually picked up your child early from school?

Unless they are a senior, they can't just sign themselves out of school without your permission. You're just too lazy to get out of the car and get your kid.

They don't "go find her." The attendance office staff - not the main office staff - looks them up on the computer to see where they are and calls into the classroom. (And before you complain about that being a disturbance to the class, remember the topic of this thread - banning phones which are far greater and far more numerous disruptions to instruction.)

Yeah the office just calls the classroom she’s in and says “Send Neurotic Mom’s kid to the office for dismissal.” This is literally so common sense easy. The kids can’t just pick up and go dismiss themselves when their mom texts so the office has to do this NO MATTER WHAT. We don’t let kids just leave the building because they claim their mom is outside getting them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The APEs still have little kids. Wait til their kids get older and get to high school and they realize what they don't know now. Kids in high school can't just whip out their ipad to do what phones can because oops they don't have one. And practice changed but coach can't get a message to them in high school and front office sure isn't going to deliver it.

And also wait til they see this policy won't do anything because all the things they complain about with phones are being done on APS ipads.

I look forward to their outrage, but they will just have themselves to blame.

What are you even talking about? Yes iPads can do a lot of things iPhones can, but it’s way harder to sneak it in the back row of a classroom in your lap.

Most iPads will be school issued and limit social media; if they don’t that’s an IT problem not a policy problem.

Practice changed! The horror! They won’t find out till the end of the day, when they actually need to know rather than in 2nd period algebra. Your examples don’t even make sense.

My kids are in high school, and we have friends at privates where phones are banned all day.

Wait til you have to drop off medication for your kid but they never are given the message.

You keep making up problems just to justify your kid having electronic apron strings.

you keep avoiding the question of why you didn't just put parental controls on your kid's phone if you're sooooo worried about the supposed evils of cell phones? some of us are not as irrationally anxious as you are about our kids using phones, and see the upsides to having them.

DP. no, you're irrationally anxious about your kid NOT having their phone at the ready at all times.
You don't know that I haven't put parental controls on my kids' phone or if my kid even has a phone. My doing so does not prevent YOUR kid or the 2000 others in their school from using them during class.

People like you who are just so adamantly opposed to phones being banned at school simply refuse to see the real issue. It isn't about phones being bad. It's about eliminating their distractions and disruptions to the classroom because - whether it's your kid or not - there are phones causing problems in the classroom. Stop deflecting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The APEs still have little kids. Wait til their kids get older and get to high school and they realize what they don't know now. Kids in high school can't just whip out their ipad to do what phones can because oops they don't have one. And practice changed but coach can't get a message to them in high school and front office sure isn't going to deliver it.

And also wait til they see this policy won't do anything because all the things they complain about with phones are being done on APS ipads.

I look forward to their outrage, but they will just have themselves to blame.

What are you even talking about? Yes iPads can do a lot of things iPhones can, but it’s way harder to sneak it in the back row of a classroom in your lap.

Most iPads will be school issued and limit social media; if they don’t that’s an IT problem not a policy problem.

Practice changed! The horror! They won’t find out till the end of the day, when they actually need to know rather than in 2nd period algebra. Your examples don’t even make sense.

My kids are in high school, and we have friends at privates where phones are banned all day.

Wait til you have to drop off medication for your kid but they never are given the message.

And your kid doesn't know they need medication, so they can't ask about it? Or, you can't wait for them to call your child to the office to ensure they're aware?

Ask who? How? If they had their phone they could ask me if I dropped it off and where but how do you want this to happen now that ppl like you took this away.

And you think high schools call kids to the offuce? Hahaha you are clueless. Tell me how that works during lunch please - how do they know where my kid is? Who do they call?

This isn’t elementary school. Last time this happened the school told me to text my child!!!

I’m assuming the medication is not a 911 situation, so they would wait until after lunch, look up their schedule and call her next class to have her come to the office. This is a time tested solution.

Again, they could stop by the office every other period to see if you dropped it off if you doubt the school. The bother of having to do this will be a natural consequence to help them not forgot medicine in the future.

As for them telling you to text your child, okay? Sure there are lazy admins but once the policy is there are no phones, they won’t press the easy button that no longer exists.

Except this didn't happen and kid never got the message or the meds when we tried it.

Then resolve that with your school. Better yet, give your kid their medication when they're home or leave it in the school clinic like you're supposed to if it's a regular thing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The APEs still have little kids. Wait til their kids get older and get to high school and they realize what they don't know now. Kids in high school can't just whip out their ipad to do what phones can because oops they don't have one. And practice changed but coach can't get a message to them in high school and front office sure isn't going to deliver it.

And also wait til they see this policy won't do anything because all the things they complain about with phones are being done on APS ipads.

I look forward to their outrage, but they will just have themselves to blame.

What are you even talking about? Yes iPads can do a lot of things iPhones can, but it’s way harder to sneak it in the back row of a classroom in your lap.

Most iPads will be school issued and limit social media; if they don’t that’s an IT problem not a policy problem.

Practice changed! The horror! They won’t find out till the end of the day, when they actually need to know rather than in 2nd period algebra. Your examples don’t even make sense.

My kids are in high school, and we have friends at privates where phones are banned all day.

Wait til you have to drop off medication for your kid but they never are given the message.

You keep making up problems just to justify your kid having electronic apron strings.

This isn’t made up, you just don’t want to admit that cell phones fill a need in modern society. Why can’t you admit that? How about you and your kids try going without one!

You must be a millennial parent if your imagination of how a school can function without every student having a constant digital tether is so limited.

Speaking of that, though, doesn’t every student have a school issues laptop or tablet, with email and notifications? That they use in most classes? So for school sanctioned messages, they could be notified on that by front office. People keep crowing how it will be used for social media, but it definitely has communication utility.

Maybe for middle schoolers but no laptops and cell phones don't have the same convenience or functionality.

And they would not have a laptop out/handy at lunch or in the halls.

They can absolutely have their laptops out at lunch. You seriously think they never do that? Nobody needs to be checking for texts and emails during the 5 minutes while they make their way to their next class.

Anonymous wrote:I look forward to asking the front office staff to go find my child the next time I have to pick her up early for a doctor's appointment, since I can't just send her a text that I'm here. I'm sure they'll love having to go find her.

Have you ever actually picked up your child early from school?

Unless they are a senior, they can't just sign themselves out of school without your permission. You're just too lazy to get out of the car and get your kid.

They don't "go find her." The attendance office staff - not the main office staff - looks them up on the computer to see where they are and calls into the classroom. (And before you complain about that being a disturbance to the class, remember the topic of this thread - banning phones which are far greater and far more numerous disruptions to instruction.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a parent need to text a kid everyday? What cants wait until the bell? Come on

that's not what this is about.

why can't a parent who doesn't want their kid to have a cell phone just take away their OWN kid's phone?

I'm so sick of this argument?!
Other kids' cell phones are ALSO the problem! It's not just MY kid or just any one other kid. PHONES period. I don't give a crap whether they belong to my kid or yours. NEITHER should be used in the classroom. And of course, I know YOUR kid never does and isn't the problem. So if your kid doesn't use their phone during school and isn't the problem, the policy shouldn't be a problem for you.

Worry about your OWN kid why don't you?

I do worry about MY OWN kid - that's why I support the away-for-the-day policy. It minimizes the disruptions to MY child's learning by minimizing ALL the phones in the classroom.
People like you should start considering OTHERS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a parent need to text a kid everyday? What cants wait until the bell? Come on

that's not what this is about.

why can't a parent who doesn't want their kid to have a cell phone just take away their OWN kid's phone?

I'm so sick of this argument?!
Other kids' cell phones are ALSO the problem! It's not just MY kid or just any one other kid. PHONES period. I don't give a crap whether they belong to my kid or yours. NEITHER should be used in the classroom. And of course, I know YOUR kid never does and isn't the problem. So if your kid doesn't use their phone during school and isn't the problem, the policy shouldn't be a problem for you.

The away for the class policy is fine. The away for halls and lunch is not fine. It's group punishment. You still won't say why you won't take your own kid's phone away or put some controls on it. Start there.

OK. I've started there.
Now that I've done that, what's being done about all the other kids and their phones?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The APEs still have little kids. Wait til their kids get older and get to high school and they realize what they don't know now. Kids in high school can't just whip out their ipad to do what phones can because oops they don't have one. And practice changed but coach can't get a message to them in high school and front office sure isn't going to deliver it.

And also wait til they see this policy won't do anything because all the things they complain about with phones are being done on APS ipads.

I look forward to their outrage, but they will just have themselves to blame.

What are you even talking about? Yes iPads can do a lot of things iPhones can, but it’s way harder to sneak it in the back row of a classroom in your lap.

Most iPads will be school issued and limit social media; if they don’t that’s an IT problem not a policy problem.

Practice changed! The horror! They won’t find out till the end of the day, when they actually need to know rather than in 2nd period algebra. Your examples don’t even make sense.

My kids are in high school, and we have friends at privates where phones are banned all day.

Wait til you have to drop off medication for your kid but they never are given the message.

And your kid doesn't know they need medication, so they can't ask about it? Or, you can't wait for them to call your child to the office to ensure they're aware?

Ask who? How? If they had their phone they could ask me if I dropped it off and where but how do you want this to happen now that ppl like you took this away.

And you think high schools call kids to the offuce? Hahaha you are clueless. Tell me how that works during lunch please - how do they know where my kid is? Who do they call?

This isn’t elementary school. Last time this happened the school told me to text my child!!!

1. Student to teacher: I'm supposed to have medication. My mom is going to drop it off (I know this because she told me so). Can I check at the office to see if she's dropped it off?

2. High schools ABSOLUTELY call students to the office.
3. They know where your kid is by looking at their schedule. If they are at lunch, they can help you locate them - they aren't wandering the building anymore (at least at our high school) and if they are a senior and leave campus for lunch, or you can't locate them, you can leave the medication and the message with the office or they will likely tell you take it to the clinic. The clinic staff will then contact your student.

Just how often are you dropping off medication, anyway? Sounds like a YOU problem, not a lack of phone problem.

PS: For most medications, you can't just give them to your student to carry around with them at school anyway - they need to be held by the nurse in the clinic. So, again, tell me how high schools work.

No you are completely wrong. Again this is telling that you have zero idea how things work for older kids.

Okay, tell us what medicine does a child need every day and is walking around with.

wow you are clueless, you are also very privileged if you don't have a kid who needs to carry meds. but thanks for making this harder for my kid and my family.

Refusal to answer the question. Doesn't help us understand or empathize with your situation. I'm guessing it's really not that big of a concern, you're just using it as an excuse to rail against a policy you don't want.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a parent need to text a kid everyday? What cants wait until the bell? Come on

that's not what this is about.

why can't a parent who doesn't want their kid to have a cell phone just take away their OWN kid's phone?

I'm so sick of this argument?!
Other kids' cell phones are ALSO the problem! It's not just MY kid or just any one other kid. PHONES period. I don't give a crap whether they belong to my kid or yours. NEITHER should be used in the classroom. And of course, I know YOUR kid never does and isn't the problem. So if your kid doesn't use their phone during school and isn't the problem, the policy shouldn't be a problem for you.

Worry about your OWN kid why don't you?

This is a moronic approach when it comes to SCHOOL. Schools are communities. The actions of some kids impact others. We make choices for the good of the whole community of students. This idea that all of us only have to and should care about ourselves is isolating your kids and depriving them of empathy and concern for the world in which they live.

+1 personally my main concern over cellphone use in schools is student privacy/malicious use. I think middle schoolers especially shouldn’t have to worry about being filmed eating/in the bathroom/getting beat up. (FWIW I have a current middle schooler and work in an elementary school where Apple Watches are more of an issue than phones. )

It's a big problem. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/15/technology/school-fight-videos-student-phones.html?searchResultPosition=3

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I look forward to asking the front office staff to go find my child the next time I have to pick her up early for a doctor's appointment, since I can't just send her a text that I'm here. I'm sure they'll love having to go find her.

My kids are in an APS middle school and even last year I went to the front desk to have them call my kids out of class. It works just fine and would never occur to me to do otherwise. Are other kids just getting texts from their parents and walking out of class?

Seriously! If this is happening, what a nightmare for teachers! A kid just waves his phone and claims his mom texted and he has to go? Yet another reason to ban phone usage.

Absolutely. Discipline is not backed by admin or parents; parents get irate if they have to wait, so teachers don’t even bat an eye when kids leave. There is no upside to trying to discipline minor infractions like this versus desk throwing etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I look forward to asking the front office staff to go find my child the next time I have to pick her up early for a doctor's appointment, since I can't just send her a text that I'm here. I'm sure they'll love having to go find her.

My kids are in an APS middle school and even last year I went to the front desk to have them call my kids out of class. It works just fine and would never occur to me to do otherwise. Are other kids just getting texts from their parents and walking out of class?

Seriously! If this is happening, what a nightmare for teachers! A kid just waves his phone and claims his mom texted and he has to go? Yet another reason to ban phone usage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a parent need to text a kid everyday? What cants wait until the bell? Come on

that's not what this is about.

why can't a parent who doesn't want their kid to have a cell phone just take away their OWN kid's phone?

I'm so sick of this argument?!
Other kids' cell phones are ALSO the problem! It's not just MY kid or just any one other kid. PHONES period. I don't give a crap whether they belong to my kid or yours. NEITHER should be used in the classroom. And of course, I know YOUR kid never does and isn't the problem. So if your kid doesn't use their phone during school and isn't the problem, the policy shouldn't be a problem for you.

Worry about your OWN kid why don't you?

This is a moronic approach when it comes to SCHOOL. Schools are communities. The actions of some kids impact others. We make choices for the good of the whole community of students. This idea that all of us only have to and should care about ourselves is isolating your kids and depriving them of empathy and concern for the world in which they live.

+1 personally my main concern over cellphone use in schools is student privacy/malicious use. I think middle schoolers especially shouldn’t have to worry about being filmed eating/in the bathroom/getting beat up. (FWIW I have a current middle schooler and work in an elementary school where Apple Watches are more of an issue than phones. )

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a parent need to text a kid everyday? What cants wait until the bell? Come on

that's not what this is about.

why can't a parent who doesn't want their kid to have a cell phone just take away their OWN kid's phone?

I'm so sick of this argument?!
Other kids' cell phones are ALSO the problem! It's not just MY kid or just any one other kid. PHONES period. I don't give a crap whether they belong to my kid or yours. NEITHER should be used in the classroom. And of course, I know YOUR kid never does and isn't the problem. So if your kid doesn't use their phone during school and isn't the problem, the policy shouldn't be a problem for you.

Worry about your OWN kid why don't you?

This is a moronic approach when it comes to SCHOOL. Schools are communities. The actions of some kids impact others. We make choices for the good of the whole community of students. This idea that all of us only have to and should care about ourselves is isolating your kids and depriving them of empathy and concern for the world in which they live.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The APEs still have little kids. Wait til their kids get older and get to high school and they realize what they don't know now. Kids in high school can't just whip out their ipad to do what phones can because oops they don't have one. And practice changed but coach can't get a message to them in high school and front office sure isn't going to deliver it.

And also wait til they see this policy won't do anything because all the things they complain about with phones are being done on APS ipads.

I look forward to their outrage, but they will just have themselves to blame.

What are you even talking about? Yes iPads can do a lot of things iPhones can, but it’s way harder to sneak it in the back row of a classroom in your lap.

Most iPads will be school issued and limit social media; if they don’t that’s an IT problem not a policy problem.

Practice changed! The horror! They won’t find out till the end of the day, when they actually need to know rather than in 2nd period algebra. Your examples don’t even make sense.

My kids are in high school, and we have friends at privates where phones are banned all day.

Wait til you have to drop off medication for your kid but they never are given the message.

And your kid doesn't know they need medication, so they can't ask about it? Or, you can't wait for them to call your child to the office to ensure they're aware?

Ask who? How? If they had their phone they could ask me if I dropped it off and where but how do you want this to happen now that ppl like you took this away.

And you think high schools call kids to the offuce? Hahaha you are clueless. Tell me how that works during lunch please - how do they know where my kid is? Who do they call?

This isn’t elementary school. Last time this happened the school told me to text my child!!!

1. Student to teacher: I'm supposed to have medication. My mom is going to drop it off (I know this because she told me so). Can I check at the office to see if she's dropped it off?

2. High schools ABSOLUTELY call students to the office.
3. They know where your kid is by looking at their schedule. If they are at lunch, they can help you locate them - they aren't wandering the building anymore (at least at our high school) and if they are a senior and leave campus for lunch, or you can't locate them, you can leave the medication and the message with the office or they will likely tell you take it to the clinic. The clinic staff will then contact your student.

Just how often are you dropping off medication, anyway? Sounds like a YOU problem, not a lack of phone problem.

except how would my kid know I'm dropping it off if we can't communicate via text anymore? And do I really want my head leaving class to go check every hour?

That's nice that at YOUR HS they don't wander the building at lunch, they do at ours. And which staff member has time to go and help me track down my child? And how do you think my child is going to like that?

In the past this was handled easily, efficiently and discreetly via a text. Not anymore thanks to people like you.

You’re really good at creating problems.

If your child is where they are supposed to be, then we’ll have no problem finding her.

I’ve been teaching a long, long time… long enough to remember that we survived just fine without cell phones.

And your concern about whether she’ll “like” being tracked down? Why don’t you, as the parent, prepare her before school so she knows? Tell her when you’ll be there. Communicate appropriately with the main office, the people who are employed to take care of minor, everyday situations like the one that is currently vexing you.

And it will all be okay.