Comments on: Why banning cellphones in schools misses the point

By: Mike Collins

Mike Collins — Thu, 30 May 2024 11:56:55 +0000

Cell phones are fine as long as the teacher has complete control over them during class. Unfortunately, that is increasingly not the case. Unauthorized cell phone use in school is rampant in my district, as well as surrounding districts. The exponential growth in AI is taking cheating to another level, and social media distractions are having a tremendous impact on the learning process. I have a split schedule in my building. I teach half the day and I am the Dean for the other half. For students that compulsively violate the cell phone policy, we have them hand in their phones in the morning. I see students exhibit almost withdrawl-like symptoms when they do not have access to their phone. This is a crisis that is not being given the attention it needs.

By: Kailani Kekoa

Kailani Kekoa — Mon, 13 May 2024 17:06:53 +0000

I let my seventh graders use their cellphones for schoolwork and writing down homework and there are no problems. our district also doesn’t have to pay for expensive laptops if our school uses cellphones that the kids bring in. consequence for if they dont do their work are i take their phone and hold it till the end of the day and they do their work on paper. there have been little incidents.

By: Nick Boman

Nick Boman — Fri, 10 May 2024 17:29:34 +0000

I agree with Trevor and i also let my students use their phones

By: Trevor Jones

Trevor Jones — Fri, 10 May 2024 17:28:05 +0000

I disagree with all of you because while cell phones can be used for bad, there is a lot of good i teach 7th grade and. i allow my students to do schoolwork and write down homework on their phones. the consequence is that if they can’t do that, they have to do their work on paper. This matters because it gives you a chance to see whether you can trust your students or not and this is a good way to test that. in addition, if teachers allow the use of cellphones schools won’t have to pay for expensive laptops and kids can bring in their phones to use instead

By: Trevor Jones

Trevor Jones — Fri, 10 May 2024 17:25:34 +0000

By: Trevor Jones

Trevor Jones — Fri, 10 May 2024 17:15:48 +0000

In reply to megan Gill. I agree with Megan Gill because while cell phones can be used for bad, there is a lot of good you can do with them too. For example, you can do schoolwork on it and write down homework on it. This matters because people check their phones so if they write down homework in it then they'll see it. Another factor of that is if teachers allow the use of cellphones schools won't have to pay for laptops and kids can bring in their phones to use.

By: Sharon Jaeschke

Sharon Jaeschke — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 02:38:21 +0000

I agree with Doug Cabot and think the key is that he is a teacher of high school students. I taught high school students for 35 years and now teach at a university. There is NO WAY that a university instructor can adequately assess how problematic the use of cell phones in high schools is. You have to be there, day and day, and witness the loss of learning, the cyberbullying, the cheating, etc. This article said trust is the key – how about trusting high school teachers assessment of this?

By: megan Gill

megan Gill — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 14:09:00 +0000

In reply to dougcabot.

I know this is an old post – but I could not agree more. All the “good” school uses for cell phones are outweighed by the distracting/engrossing uses by about 5000%. I do have students who use their phones for productive purposes (ELL students translating etc.) but as soon as they complete that task – it’s on to youtube or instagram – it’s just not workable. Most of my students – even good students – would be failing my class if I weren’t constantly nagging them about their phones – I am so tired of hearing myself telling kids to put their phones away.
“Negotiating a reasonable policy” would work for maybe 10% of the kids – you can’t negotiate with an addiction.

By: dougcabot

dougcabot — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 20:50:00 +0000

As a teacher of high school students, I find this prescription fairly idealistic and naive. Cell phones are irresistible and they are pervasive. They hurt kids’ ability to focus, to learn, to socialize, and to thrive. There is a crisis under way in secondary education, a crisis of addiction and distraction, and teachers and administrators alike are entirely overwhelmed. That is my experience, at any rate. To me, the idea that asking nicely can reverse the tide is just well-meaning but wishful thinking.