Anonymous
Post 08/22/2023 00:15     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was one of the parents that delayed giving my kid a cell phone until 8th grade and I regretted it. His friends all texted to set up times to go meet and because he wasn’t on the text chains, he wouldn’t hear about it until after. No one ever called our home phone to tell him. And as a result he spent a lot of time accessing inappropriate material and chatting with randos on his school issues Chromebook, which I didn’t have any ability to add parental controls to. Once he got an iPhone, he started socializing again and now is spending a lot of time meeting his friends to go out for snacks, go to the gym, ride bikes, etc. I’m sure he also uses it for some things that I’m not crazy about but on the whole the phone usage is much more healthy than the Chromebook usage was.

Of course that’s totally separate from whether it should be put away in class.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am concerned about this too. Maybe a dumb phone then, that can only text and talk?

Just saw a PP mention Gabb phone--this sounds like what I'm looking for, thanks!
Anonymous
Post 08/22/2023 00:10     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Anonymous wrote:I was one of the parents that delayed giving my kid a cell phone until 8th grade and I regretted it. His friends all texted to set up times to go meet and because he wasn’t on the text chains, he wouldn’t hear about it until after. No one ever called our home phone to tell him. And as a result he spent a lot of time accessing inappropriate material and chatting with randos on his school issues Chromebook, which I didn’t have any ability to add parental controls to. Once he got an iPhone, he started socializing again and now is spending a lot of time meeting his friends to go out for snacks, go to the gym, ride bikes, etc. I’m sure he also uses it for some things that I’m not crazy about but on the whole the phone usage is much more healthy than the Chromebook usage was.

Of course that’s totally separate from whether it should be put away in class.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am concerned about this too. Maybe a dumb phone then, that can only text and talk?
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 20:21     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have had high school students rather get picked up by parents and go home rather than give up the phones. Some kids and parents are just out of control on the issue. Of course missing class means nothing now, so understandable why students would just want to leave.


I would be furious at my child for using it inappropriately in class but my child WILL have a phone on them for my needs.




Yes, it is about my needs.


What about your child’s needs? Like it being interrupted in class?

And what about the teacher’s needs? Like not having to address your kid’s cell phone use because he responded to your text about picking up take out for dinner?
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 19:56     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have had high school students rather get picked up by parents and go home rather than give up the phones. Some kids and parents are just out of control on the issue. Of course missing class means nothing now, so understandable why students would just want to leave.


I would be furious at my child for using it inappropriately in class but my child WILL have a phone on them for my needs.




Yes, it is about my needs.
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 19:55     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Anonymous wrote:Op, would it help if like minded parents got together and went to admin, strongly requesting that the rules be enforced?


Yes.

Even better if it also include communication to the BOE about it as well. Better still if a large group of parents started going to BOE meetings and during public comment times. If the movement could only grow...
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 19:02     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
On the school shooting issue, I don’t think that the phones will be much help in an actual shooting but they are very helpful in the many many lockdowns they now get in public school. For instance, my kid was really freaking out during a lockdown last year — I was texting her throughout to say that I was monitoring the police scanner and that the individual with the gun had already been seen leaving the school property. All they tell the kids is lockdown and they all are imagining Parkland — on the outside we have much better info. Honestly that’s something we didn’t have to go through in school. No one bothered to tell us if there was a kid with a gun!
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 18:54     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
I was one of the parents that delayed giving my kid a cell phone until 8th grade and I regretted it. His friends all texted to set up times to go meet and because he wasn’t on the text chains, he wouldn’t hear about it until after. No one ever called our home phone to tell him. And as a result he spent a lot of time accessing inappropriate material and chatting with randos on his school issues Chromebook, which I didn’t have any ability to add parental controls to. Once he got an iPhone, he started socializing again and now is spending a lot of time meeting his friends to go out for snacks, go to the gym, ride bikes, etc. I’m sure he also uses it for some things that I’m not crazy about but on the whole the phone usage is much more healthy than the Chromebook usage was.

Of course that’s totally separate from whether it should be put away in class.
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 18:50     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Question for OP? How do you feel about kids on their phone when they have completed all work for the class and the teacher has told them they have free time? I’m hoping that will not frequently be the case in HS but it seems like it was frequently the case in MS, where the classes move pretty slowly and seem to have a lot of “complete this at your desk” assignments. My kids have requested I not block during day time because of this. My impression from their teachers is that they don’t have a problem with cell phone use in class but one kid has a problem with Chromebook windows.
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 18:11     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have had high school students rather get picked up by parents and go home rather than give up the phones. Some kids and parents are just out of control on the issue. Of course missing class means nothing now, so understandable why students would just want to leave.


I would be furious at my child for using it inappropriately in class but my child WILL have a phone on them for my needs.


Why can't you call the school's office if you need to get a message to your child? Way better than texting them in the middle of class.
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 17:45     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have had high school students rather get picked up by parents and go home rather than give up the phones. Some kids and parents are just out of control on the issue. Of course missing class means nothing now, so understandable why students would just want to leave.


I would be furious at my child for using it inappropriately in class but my child WILL have a phone on them for my needs.


Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 17:29     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Anonymous wrote:I have had high school students rather get picked up by parents and go home rather than give up the phones. Some kids and parents are just out of control on the issue. Of course missing class means nothing now, so understandable why students would just want to leave.


I would be furious at my child for using it inappropriately in class but my child WILL have a phone on them for my needs.
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 15:47     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Anonymous wrote:Op, would it help if like minded parents got together and went to admin, strongly requesting that the rules be enforced?


A parent-led petition to MCPS Central might be helpful. This needs to apply to all MCPS elementary, middle and high schools. It is fine for students to keep phone in their locker or backpack. That might make parents feel better. But 3 warnings should be enough if the kid keeps taking it out in class and then it should be confiscated. Kids will want to use their phones at lunch or during a free period and that should be allowed.
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 14:00     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Anonymous wrote:I have had high school students rather get picked up by parents and go home rather than give up the phones. Some kids and parents are just out of control on the issue. Of course missing class means nothing now, so understandable why students would just want to leave.


We need to start punishing parents for truancy. The state laws allow for it.
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 14:00     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
Anonymous wrote:I have had high school students rather get picked up by parents and go home rather than give up the phones. Some kids and parents are just out of control on the issue. Of course missing class means nothing now, so understandable why students would just want to leave.


Yes. It's a serious problem.
Anonymous
Post 08/21/2023 13:51     Subject: S/O phones in the classroom
I have had high school students rather get picked up by parents and go home rather than give up the phones. Some kids and parents are just out of control on the issue. Of course missing class means nothing now, so understandable why students would just want to leave.