Anonymous
Post 01/31/2025 11:13     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our ES principal refuses to enforce this and leaves it up to teachers who struggle to enforce it. I would LOVE for the law to change.


Wait, elementary school kids are pulling their phones out in class (why do ES kids even have phones?) and the teachers say nothing. That's insane.


I once had a student call pull out his phone and call his mom while I was talking to him about not hitting a student. Mom then proceeded to scream at me on speaker phone and told the kid to leave. Admin did absolutely nothing.


This was brought up earlier in the thread ... besides venting in here, emailing Pinto's office to express support, and potentially testifying at a future hearing, anything else people can think of that we can do to express support? I admit I was disappointed today to see the Ward 6 SBOE member officially announce he will oppose the ban.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 19:29     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our ES principal refuses to enforce this and leaves it up to teachers who struggle to enforce it. I would LOVE for the law to change.


Wait, elementary school kids are pulling their phones out in class (why do ES kids even have phones?) and the teachers say nothing. That's insane.


I once had a student call pull out his phone and call his mom while I was talking to him about not hitting a student. Mom then proceeded to scream at me on speaker phone and told the kid to leave. Admin did absolutely nothing.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 18:04     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our ES principal refuses to enforce this and leaves it up to teachers who struggle to enforce it. I would LOVE for the law to change.


Wait, elementary school kids are pulling their phones out in class (why do ES kids even have phones?) and the teachers say nothing. That's insane.


Our daughter's fifth grade teachers has shared the struggle with us - both with phones, and kids who have watches that have games/buttons/etc. Just tons of distractions that make instruction impossible.

But often the teachers are on their own to make rules/enforce, adding on to the million other things they have to do. And opening them up to calls/complaints from parents who feel like they need to be able to text/communicate with their kid at all times. It is easier to have a policy as the 'bad guy' and let the teachers do their jobs (and let the kids learn and interact socially uninterrupted!)


+1

Make it a law and take it out of the schools’ hands. You wouldn’t believe the number of parents who claim they must be able to contact their kid at all times. Or who call during class time. Or who claim a school can’t lay hands on their kid’s property. It’s exhausting.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 18:02     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Some children obey and don’t use their phones in the classroom.

Thing is, lots of parents don’t trust the public school system. The kid’s phone is the only evidence of abuse in the classroom.


This, control your own child's cell phone use. Simple. Lazy parents want others to do it for them. They just use the school computers instead.


It is not about controlling your child's cell phone use. Even if your kid is somehow the one kid who can have a phone buzzing in their bag all day without looking at it, and who somehow manages to engage socially with peers during free/passing periods without looking at his/her phone. But even if that happens, other kids will not. Take it from somebody who has been a much later hold out about giving my kid technology. When all of their peers have phones and their faces are glued to them all the time, it really impacts instructions, and limits their social development. If the reason people think their kids need a phone is teacher abuse, yes abuse from teachers is scary, but a lot of things are scary. I would argue that statistically speaking your kid is way likely to be more negatively impacted by the phone. And there are other ways to address problems at school that existed before cell phones.


I just said this in another post but reiterating it here:

For parents who send their kids with phones because they don't trust the school and are worried about abuse,

Know that I worry your child will abuse that phone in a way that could harm my child.

Your worry is not automatically more important than my worry.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 17:35     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:Our ES principal refuses to enforce this and leaves it up to teachers who struggle to enforce it. I would LOVE for the law to change.


Another ES parent here and apparently about a third of the kids in my child's 2nd grade classroom have personal cell phones. Which is insane to me.

These parents might say they send phones because they dont' trust the school. But guess what, I don't trust a bunch of 8 year olds with cell phones not to do something stupid with them, including something that could potentially endanger or harm my child (like take photos of her and post them on the internet).

I would love a law simply banning them. These kids don't need phones.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 17:28     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our ES principal refuses to enforce this and leaves it up to teachers who struggle to enforce it. I would LOVE for the law to change.


Wait, elementary school kids are pulling their phones out in class (why do ES kids even have phones?) and the teachers say nothing. That's insane.


Our daughter's fifth grade teachers has shared the struggle with us - both with phones, and kids who have watches that have games/buttons/etc. Just tons of distractions that make instruction impossible.

But often the teachers are on their own to make rules/enforce, adding on to the million other things they have to do. And opening them up to calls/complaints from parents who feel like they need to be able to text/communicate with their kid at all times. It is easier to have a policy as the 'bad guy' and let the teachers do their jobs (and let the kids learn and interact socially uninterrupted!)
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2025 23:20     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our ES principal refuses to enforce this and leaves it up to teachers who struggle to enforce it. I would LOVE for the law to change.


Wait, elementary school kids are pulling their phones out in class (why do ES kids even have phones?) and the teachers say nothing. That's insane.


I know several fourth and fifth graders with phones.
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2025 22:00     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:Our ES principal refuses to enforce this and leaves it up to teachers who struggle to enforce it. I would LOVE for the law to change.


Wait, elementary school kids are pulling their phones out in class (why do ES kids even have phones?) and the teachers say nothing. That's insane.
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2025 21:56     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Some children obey and don’t use their phones in the classroom.

Thing is, lots of parents don’t trust the public school system. The kid’s phone is the only evidence of abuse in the classroom.


This, control your own child's cell phone use. Simple. Lazy parents want others to do it for them. They just use the school computers instead.


It is not about controlling your child's cell phone use. Even if your kid is somehow the one kid who can have a phone buzzing in their bag all day without looking at it, and who somehow manages to engage socially with peers during free/passing periods without looking at his/her phone. But even if that happens, other kids will not. Take it from somebody who has been a much later hold out about giving my kid technology. When all of their peers have phones and their faces are glued to them all the time, it really impacts instructions, and limits their social development. If the reason people think their kids need a phone is teacher abuse, yes abuse from teachers is scary, but a lot of things are scary. I would argue that statistically speaking your kid is way likely to be more negatively impacted by the phone. And there are other ways to address problems at school that existed before cell phones.


+1
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2025 21:42     Subject: Re:Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:The action doesn't require legislation, just a slightly motivated and competent principal. A number of schools already do this.


Pray we had that at Jackson-Reed!
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2025 13:04     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:Are teachers banned from using them too? We hired several teachers from a recently closed school in DC and all they do is sit on their phones all day. When they were asked to refrain, they seemed surprised.


Totally agree, schools should have rules/standards for phone use by staff as well. I see this as part of the same problem... Smart phones were 'invented' 18 years ago, so a lot of these younger professionals have had unlimited access to a screen to swipe starting in young adolescence. Those of us who are older can see the difference of how people behave , but for many young adults there was not a time their face was not buried in a phone.
All the more reason to intervene with young people now, IMO
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2025 12:54     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Are teachers banned from using them too? We hired several teachers from a recently closed school in DC and all they do is sit on their phones all day. When they were asked to refrain, they seemed surprised.
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2025 12:44     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:why can't we ban browsers and apps on DCPS laptops next?


Not sure if this was serious or sarcasm, but there are limits on browsers and apps on DCPS wifi. Yes kids can find their way around them for some things, but not all of the things.

Kids will have distractions as long as they have laptops, but not to the same level as with phones (no social media, etc)
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2025 11:17     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
why can't we ban browsers and apps on DCPS laptops next?
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2025 10:20     Subject: Cell phone ban introduced
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our private instituted a ban this year and the biggest thing it's done has grown relationships between the kids. They actually sit and talk. The academic piece is almost secondary.



Totally. Before my kids were tweens, I was only focused on the academic distraction/cheating piece of it (which is still huge). But the more I have read and seen firsthand about stunted social emotional development, the solution seems obvious.


Besides posting on here, and possibly providing testimony in front of the council, any other ideas on how we can support this? Is it worth emailing our council members? (If we do not live in Pinto's ward?)


This is a great bill. also many schools are putting this policy in place (it's in place at our DCPS elementary and charter middle and high school. Huge relief for me). I have heard for private schools putting it in place just in the last year. The trend is absolutely going that way.