Readers speak out on phones in school

Wed, 08/07/2024 - 11:45am admin

School boards and state legislatures around the country have been establishing rules about allowing students to have their phones and use them during school hours. According to a recent Pew Research survey of teachers “about 7-in-10 (72%) say that students being distracted by cell phones is a major problem in their classroom, compared with 33% of middle school teachers and 6% of elementary school teachers.” Some parents feel this is a smart move to eliminate distractions while others are concerned about being able to communicate with their children. Do you think students should have their phones in school?

Comments: Tell us why you think students should - or should not - have their phones in school.

• I don’t think we should remove everyone’s access to cell phones simply because a few people can’t be responsible with them. Instead, if a kid is caught being distracted, that specific child should have restrictions placed on them.

• As a former classroom teacher evaluator, I observed the drastic change in student attentiveness when they were allowed to have phones in the classrooms. As I mentioned this to my daughter-in-law and granddaughter, both were appalled at the notion of students not having access to phones at school in this time when school shootings are so prevalent. This made me think further about the issue. Perhaps each school could mandate that phones be stored in some fashion at the front of the classroom where all eyes on the storage would provide security for students’ phones. Maybe requiring each student to turn off the phone and leave it perhaps on the upper left corner of the desk in full view of the teacher would work. Each teacher must ultimately be held responsible for ensuring that the decision regarding phones is upheld.

• I think they should be allowed but turned off and stored in a locker. They are important for before and after school communication, but not during school hours.

• I like having the option to call my child if there is an emergency or vice versa.

• They should only be allowed to use them during lunch or recess.

• DIS is very unique, as lots of kids ride bikes to school. Here is how DIS could be handled: Children who ride bikes to school can get a lockbox for their phones if they need them for their parents to be able to track that they got to school safely (bike phone lock boxes are waterproof and available on Amazon). Walkers or car riders leave phones at home or in cars. High School: leave phones in cars or in lockers. No phones allowed at all in classrooms. Every generation before this one was able to work it out by calling the school or emailing teachers in the case of emergency. My kids are in college now and self-regulate - they say by far the biggest thing they are grateful for is that they had some part of their childhood without phones. Children cannot self regulate very well and no phones in schools can be the one gift of no screen time habit we can give them.

• Phones are a distraction. A device that allows communication in case of emergency without any of the distractions that a phone offers should be allowed. I’m not sure the perfect device exists. Hoping to band together with friends to make sure that none of our kids have phones before eighth grade.

• Mental health crisis among our youth and technology is the leading root cause, so no phones in school is a promising first step towards healing this generation. Parents not allowing social tech until brain development can self-manage (16 years old) is recommended by renowned psychologists, but until the majority of parents adopt this critical call to protect our youth, it is nearly impossible for parents to keep social tech out of their children’s lives.

• With all the school shootings and bullying going on all over the country (yes, including Charleston, SC) I want my child to have his cellphone at all times.

• Kick addiction to phones and explore other resources for information. Encourage study group sessions in libraries and tech labs. There is no good reason for phones in school

• No phones. We can get in touch with our kids during emergencies (and vice versa) through the school.

• Why should they have them is the question. Why do they need outside communication during school hours?

• Schools are the one place phones should not be allowed. Children should go to school to learn, socialize, and mature. Phones do nothing to serve those purposes. Phones distract and isolate. They record things that can be used to bully, embarrass, and humiliate. I can think of no good reason a child needs a phone in school. If an emergency arises, the parents can call the school, or the child can go to the office and call the parents. Parents and their children are equally tethered to each other by telephones. There will be a learning curve for everybody if phones are not permitted in schools. But the reward will ultimately be happier, safer, better-educated children.

• It’s a distraction, not only for them, but for the other students around them when the teacher is instructing the class. Also, they could be used to do math calculations, and.

• Kids need to learn to coexist with phones in the right way. Also parents do use them for communication, tracking, etc.

• Cellphones are a known distraction. Students need to be able to focus on learning and not be attached to their fingertips with their cellphones. Talking in class, chewing gum loudly, rustling papers are all common classroom distractions. A cellphone is an additional cause of loss of focus. I also think that a student having constant contact with a parent for no other reason other than "just because" hinders the child from becoming independent, and learning how to think and deal with common everyday problems.

• Absolutely not! Teachers have enough trouble teaching and keeping students engaged without a phone's major distraction!

• Having phones in school: 1) offers a distraction for the kids, 2) encourages digital (virtual) interaction via texts or social media rather than crucial for development face to face (real world) interaction with their peers, 3) has been shown to cause disciplinary issues, behavioral problems, and increased occurrences of adverse mental health

• My wife is a college professor and tells me how students are on their phones during class often. They absolutely should not be on them in the classroom. Why is it that people are so addicted to their phones. I drive to work at 7 a.m. and the number of drivers on their phones is astounding. Who do you need to be talking to that early. Mobile phones and social media are the downfall of society.

• They already have computers and screen time is unprecedented and so very distracting. My dad was an optometrist and used to nag me not to watch TV because of the effect on my eyes of staring in one place too long. We do not know yet what the long term effects of having screens in our faces all day will be. Time will tell, in the meantime, let’s give our eyes a break from the screens at least for a few hours – teachers and books deserve the attention.

• It is a major disruption to learning. And there is no reason for a parent to contact a student during the school day while classes are in session. In case of emergency, the parent may call the school office.

• Parent communication – except while in the classroom.

• Too much of a distraction.

• Listen to the teachers. It's a problem. It's the same reason why you shouldn't text and drive. It's a distraction.

Readers speak out on phones in school

Daniel Island Publishing

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