Canadian schools are experimenting with cellphone bans, but some parents say the devices are lifelines
Canadian schools are experimenting with cellphone bans, but some parents say the devices are lifelines
American high school teacher here (Midwest region). We implemented a policy this year banning cellphones in instructional spaces during instructional time. Enforceable by confiscation if teachers saw or heard a phone. We have a strong set of administrators who supported teachers in any case where there was student pushback. It has been a huge success in terms of limiting distractions during instructional time. All of our students are provided Chromebooks so there really isn’t much of an instructional reason to have phones anyway. It has also contributed to a drop in student-on-student behavior problems.
I do feel for the girl in this article for whom it was used as a coping mechanism for bullying. No policy comes with zero downsides. However, it sounds like she was allowed exceptions in certain cases, which is exactly what should happen.
I do feel for the girl in this article for whom it was used as a coping mechanism for bullying. No policy comes with zero downsides
Right, it's kind of a trolley problem. Is it better to do lesser harm through action (banning cell phones, meaning a few students like this can't reach their family during school hours), or greater harm through inaction (loose cell phone policy, harming the learning process for everyone, inviting violence against teachers who are competing against addictive algorithms for their students' attention)?
Cell phones barely existed when I was in school and were certainly out of reach for students. Bullying still happened (personal experience, yay) and staff would shut that shit down when they saw it or it was reported.
It's not lesser harm since no one else is gonna pay for the mental health bills nor could revert the damage done from the bullying. And when someone snaps from bullying you are gonna see blood for sure. (and little kids/teens snaps from very little things, talking from experiences.) have you ever seen clip where a chubby kid slams a bully teasing him upside down? the bully got slammed could be paralyzed for life, or worse dead, the chubby kid that got bullied could bear that trauma for life, it happens when bully think no one is watching and it's "life as usual", picking on this bigger kid to have some power fantasy or bragging to his mates. If the chubby kid had the tool, pull out a phone and push a button and say, "I'm live streaming this and will report to teacher and my parents, watch your action and leave me alone." Wouldn't the violence resolved without potential life changing events?
I'm surprised that this wasn't something that was already implemented. When I was in highschool in the early 2000's cellphones would be instantly taken away if they were spotted by a teacher during class.
I don't understand parents needing constant contact with their children. As a kid I would've hated that, helicopter parenting x1000.
The article mentions kids being able to call their parents when being bullied. Having an emergency contact option is always useful.
Understandable, but I doubt much bullying is happening during class time, where I feel that having cellphones put away would be the most beneficial. Several times I've been asked to put my cellphones in pouches that set off alarms when opened during small comedy shows/concerts, I feel that might be an alright solution to in class device lock down. Then when the class is over phone can come out.
In terms of bullying I think that's more a failure of the education system that these students don't have someone to turn to, in the faculty, to deal with it. It sucks because I couldn't imagine what bullying is like now in the digital age. I always felt that teachers and admins never got enough power to deal with severe bullying without blow back from parents.
At my high school most of my teachers didn’t allow cellphones in class, and would take them away for the period if they caught the student more than once.
There isn’t a lot of need for cellphones in a classroom, especially if the students have access to school laptops/computers.
Phones aren't the problem, applications are. No one ever complained about having Nokia 3310s in their pockets.
Bright colorful screens that mess up serotonin are also part of the problem.
Pagers and cells were banned in my high school. If you needed to make a call you use the pay phones and the parent can call the office. Never been an issue. But at the very least keeping cell phones basic and only for calls would at least help.
There's a lot of people here immediately jumping to the "cell phones bad!" conclusion.
Phones are a part of kids lives nowadays. Banning them in schools isn't going to help anyone. How are children supposed to learn to use technology safely and effectively if we just take it away from them instead? I don't want to imply that it is only a teachers job to teach kids about safe technology use, because it isn't, but kids spend 30+ hours a week at school. It is a large portion of their lives and what they learn in the classroom often ends up reflected in their lives outside of school.
I think everyone who jumps to the conclusion to ban cell phones in schools is missing the point. All it does is encourage kids to use their technology in unsupervised spaces instead. It doesn't teach them how to use it safely or effectively, and it doesn't prevent them from participating in cyber bullying. All it does is push issues such as that outside of the school where kids have arguably less resources and support systems to deal with it.
We can all agree that alcohol isn't bad by itself and that we can learn to use it safely (don't drink too much, knowing when we had enough etc..). And yet we keep away alcohol from children. Why? Because it is a well-known fact that children may not have the capability to limit themselves; they might very well become addicted and fall into it.
Why should it be any different for mobile phones? We know it can become an addiction. And we also know that children do not have the means to limit themselves because of their young age.
Deliberately letting a kid having a phone for an indefinite amount of time is being irresponsible. What would be responsible is only allowing to use the phone for a limited time.
Schools banning phone could be one way towards that. It would be a good way too because the kid would not be suffering from any social pressure from their peers as everyone would be concerned with the ban.
This is just a bad comparison, comparing a drug to electronics makes literally 0 sense.
We don't let kids eat during class because it's disruptive, should we ban eating in schools all together? Kids aren't allowed to play sports in the hallways, sports can cause injuries, ban sports at school?
That's the logic of this comparison, that is, none at all.
Phones are a part of kids lives nowadays.
It has a time and place. I think the point here is that the time and place is not in class.
I give my children unfettered access to technology. It is very much a last resort for them, only picking up a device when they have exhausted all other visible opportunity to do something more interesting. Suggesting that they do almost anything else is met with "Yeah! Let's do that!"
If a student is reaching for their phone in class, the problem is with something about the class. Being old, cell phones came in giant bags when I was a student, but we played with our calculators, doodled, or anything else to stave off the same boredom when we had a horrible teacher who had no clue as to what they were doing. The phone is just a more modern version of the exact same quest for distraction.
I think the point is that we need to question why we are wasting our students' time in classes which are not providing value. There is a lot of sentimental attachment to school, but ultimately there is no need for make work projects. The focus needs to be on delivering value and where that is not being delivered a rethink is necessary.
Phone use, or any such distraction, is a symptom telling us that there is a problem in value delivery. Suppressing a symptom does not cure the illness.
This is going to be my hot take of the day.
Cars are very much part of our lives and we decided that there was a minimum age to own and operate them. I could potentially get behind a system where we don't let children below a certain age operate / own a phone.
It's illegal to smoke with a kid in your car, but we have no problem giving a 10 year old kid unfiltered internet 24/7 as a society.
I don't strictly disagree, but the damage misusing a car can cause is a lot more obvious and quantifiable than a phone, so it is a much harder argument to make
That said, high school students do drive and they can't do so in the classroom, so we're rapidly approaching an apples and oranges argument with regards to how phones should specifically look inside of school.
This is a hot take that I can get on board with. I think in order for this to happen we (as a society) will have to come to grips with the real damage device addiction can do to our lives. The harm is easy to find with second hand smoke and alcohol but we do a great job turning a blind eye to all the issues we're causing for ourselves by being stuck on our devices.
I'll counter your hot take. I don't think kids should have unfiltered or unsupervised access to the internet. That's exactly what I'm stating in my original comment. Classrooms are supervised spaces where kids can learn how to use the internet and technology as a tool. We can't just go "you're 8 so you can't use technology." That isn't an effective way to teach children about the world. Allowing them to use technology in safe, supervised settings, and teaching them how to use it safely and effectively is more useful than straight up banning it until they pass a certain age threshold.
Growing up, I had access to a computer from the age of 2. I could use it to play games, listen to music, make greeting cards, etc. but I had daily time limits for the amount of screen time I was allowed. I also wasn't allowed unsupervised internet usage. This was far more effective than completely banning me from using the computer until I was older, in my opinion. I was far more technically literate than the majority of my friends by the time I hit first grade, and it helped immensely throughout my school years. When you know how to use a tool safely and effectively, you can use it to complete tasks and projects far more efficiently. If we get hung up on labelling all technology as equal and bad and banning it, we're missing the good parts of it. Nothing is inherently bad. The use is what makes it bad. If we teach proper use, we lower the chances of the bad things happening.
In that case there should be some time dedicated to that topic.
Otherwise, they have all that technology in hand as soon as classes finish. The younger generations are all born with tablets and smartphones in their hands.
I'm really not worried about them learning how they work.
Heck, we had a PC at home and I learned how to use DOS as soon as I learned how to read just so I could play games.
I think you're understanding these kids.
I'm not necessarily saying they need to learn how the devices work (although some kids do). I'm more saying they need to learn how to use them, as in, when it is appropriate and effective to use their phone, and what they should be using it for. Scrolling through social media in class? Obviously not a good choice when you should be focusing on your learning. Using it as a calculator? Great! We have a calculator in our pocket for just that reason. Fact checking something to make sure what you're writing in your essay is true? Great! Always back up your writing with sources!
Phones are just mini computers. We use computers in the classroom because we understand they're a useful tool. Showing kids how to utilize those tools is important. The younger generation (myself included, although I graduated high school 7 years ago now) see cell phones as an extension of themselves. It's a tool I use daily to find information, view traffic in real time, keep up to date on current events, and communicate with my family and friends. I use it all the time. I'm very strongly of the opinion that technology is never inherently bad. We just need to teach and model appropriate and effective use.
I assumed cell phones would be banned in classrooms. When I was in school any sight of a walkman would get it taken away!
T9 texting without looking at your phone is a lost art.
A large part of me misses the simplicity of those old phones, and for some reason I really do miss T9..
As an adult with mild ADHD I can admit that my cellphone poisons productivity. I can imagine not doing so well in school if the same fully fledged dopamine machines existed when I was a kid.
At the same time, I can't imagine a full ban on cellphones being the reasonable course of action. There's probably a compromise in there somewhere.
As an adult with strong ADHD, I concur. I lock up my phone and keep it far away when working because it's kryptonite for my already minimal ability to focus on the task at hand.
But cellphones became common-ish when I was in school, and the rule of the time was "it stays in your locker". People were wary of theft and would usually bring them in turned off so teachers wouldn't confiscate them, but it did the job of keeping phones out of hands in class.
I know parents want to have access to their kids 24/7, but that's such a new mindset and I can't imagine it does much good for kids' development, either.
Right? This is going to sound all kids-these-days, but I remember when I was told to leave my personal laptop at home when I tried to use it in a computer class for the express purpose of learning the material in that class.
Yeah; I remember that I had a list of stuff that could be brought to class. Pens, pencils, erasers, official calculator, binder, textbooks. Anything else got binned if it was discovered. Even jackets and hats had to stay in the locker during class.
Secondary teacher here.
Trying to remove phones from the classroom entirely is just reinforcing that phones are for entertainment. It is a tool and needs to be handled like a tool: we should be teaching responsible use, and limiting it from those who have proved they can't be responsible on a per-case basis.
When students use their phones responsibly, they can be powerful learning aids. And I have zero issues calling out individual students who refuse to use them responsibly and treating their actions like any other misdemeanor.
Thank you for wording this so tactfully. So many people fail to realize that a large portion of cell phone use is as a tool. As someone who has grown up with a phone, most of my use has been as a tool. People like to say "kids these days never talk to each other, everyone is always on their phones!" but my experience has been the opposite. Having my phone gives me and my friends something to talk about. We can pull up the video we're referencing in 10 seconds. We can look something up immediately if we aren't sure of it. We can look for places to go eat or activities to go do. We can easily research current events and find out what the actual facts are, instead of just going "I heard x" without anything to back it up.
All of this stems from the way we were taught to use technology. Our technology use in classrooms for research taught us how to look things up, how to find reputable sources, when it's appropriate to use our devices, and how to use them with others. Most schools (at least where I am) are now one-to-one, which means every student has a computer in every class. People are quick to ban phones, but then turn around and say computers are fine. This makes no sense to me. They can both be used in nearly identical ways. If we're removing phones from classrooms, then we better remove the computers too. And then we're going to have people complaining because "this generation doesn't know how to use a computer!" Well, guess what, it's because you said they shouldn't have them in the classroom.
I think cellphones should be banned in classrooms and allowed between classes. I'm not sure why they should need to be banned during students' freetime. This is how it was when I was in high school during the very early years of smartphones and it worked out fine. If I wanted to listen to music while walking down the halls or during lunch, that was a really important coping mechanism for me with how dramatic high school can be. It also allowed me to keep in touch with my friends and meet them around the school. I think it's overly reactionary to do a blanket ban like that. I completely understand the need to ban them within classrooms. That's reasonable to me as classrooms should only be for learning.
At least when I was in secondary school teachers did not have to confiscate phones, reasonable usage of cell phones was permitted (or laptops for that matter) while unreasonable usage would first result in the instructor asking you to put your phone away and subsequently result in confiscation. Reasonable usage could be using a English-French dictionary online, or taking a photo of a white board. I think it also helped that the school wifi blocked social media and the building had horrendous reception due to the building style, and most VPNs would be blocked so it was difficult to circumvent anyways. I think a complete ban is unreasonable, students should learn how to use technology effectively to ameliorate their education while also learning when it is not appropriate to use it at all (e.g. when the teacher is lecturing).
Edit: I should add for primary school I feel like devices are significantly less useful, and only school owned devices should be used under supervision of staff if necessary (e.g. a computer lab, or a chromebook cart). I do not know how many students bring phones in that age group now, since when I went the most anyone had was an iPod usually except for the rare person with more.
I live in the USA, and phones are generally banned in schools here, although they're allowed to be used while class is not in session.
In some cases though, kids have become violent and attacked teachers who have tried taking their phone away.
Banned in schools or banned in classes? You're kind of saying both there...
Banned in classes
Sounds like a fabulous idea.
Looks like a ban on smartphones would be more reasonable, while allowing certain kinds of old school phones (the kind for example Hasidic Jews use), to allow for emergency contingencies.
Schools have dress codes, and people adapt to those. Maybe we just need tech codes.
I like the idea of a complete ban on cell phones during teaching periods, and maybe even on school grounds at all. I have no idea how to enforce such a ban and as mentioned in the article if schools are struggling to even contain violence, how are they going to manage cell phone use?
The article highlights an issue, there is something wrong with our schools. It is more then just the normal generational discomfort(though that is part of it). Again I don't know the solution but I think we need to acknowledge that we are failing today's students(they are not failing us because we are the adults). Then we can discuss how to improve things.
Ban phone just not the right thing. In nowaday, can get help if the person get school bully? Just click power button 5 times to call police. Something happen? have a call. give the chridren some money for snake or launch? phone. lost direction, phone.
"Don't have phone in my day" is not a argument, is 2023 not 1990. So much thing change, don't go backward. Just have a phone can be a warning for the people want to do bad thing, just like a nuke, is there, think before you do the thing.
The problem is the parent not the phone, just better educate the parent to enable the parent control. there is finger print, not password that can watch at the side to steal the password. No children know what is the right thing to do, if the parent not tell them, what is right and what is wrong. there no brain input, parent don't do there job is not the reason to prevent the parent do there job and protect there children using the phone.
let's just #AbolishGovernmentSchools
No, abolish homeschooling and religious schools. Enough with the propagation of idiocy.