Maybe it's a coincidence, but the book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt is becoming very popular, and more and more schools are basically banning cell phones (which happens to be one of Haidt's suggestions -- phone free schools). I'm not sure it's a coincidence -- I think it's possible this book may just be what schools needed in order to give the concept of phone-free schools some legitimacy. I was inspired to write this post after reading the article in Education Week titled, "The Georgia School Shooting May Accelerate the Backlash to Cellphone Bans." I am a recently retired teacher, but I would like to share what cell phones in school looked like when I was still in education just a few short months ago and use that experience to attempt to explain why cell phone bans could be a positive thing.
Side note: I recognize that there are some students who may need their cell phones with them for medical reasons (example: many diabetes monitors now sync with cell phones) or for educational reasons (some students may use their phones for accessibility purposes, such as to record lessons, hear the teacher better, translate information, etc.). I don't want to suggest that students with legitimate need for access to their cell phone should not have that access. Instead, those cases can be handled individually by the schools. The truth is the vast majority of students probably don't need their cell phone with them during the day at school.
Now let me get on with my thoughts, and I'm guessing I'm going to say some unpopular things.
The most common reason I have heard for why students should have their phones with them actually comes from parents who say they want to be able to reach their kids in case of an emergency. Now, I would like to know what kind of emergency parents are talking about? At the risk of being crass, I think of an emergency as being something like someone is hurt or dies, and I find it hard to believe any parent is going to call their child in the middle of the school day on their cell phone and say, "Just wanted to let you know Grandma died." Things that parents may constitute as an emergency really aren't -- like having to pick up a child after school instead of ride the bus because of an appointment. The truth of the matter is any parent can call the front office of the school and either ask to have their child taken out of class to take an emergency phone call or as for a message to be sent to the student. It is unnecessary for parents to distract their kids with a call or even a text during the day when the kids should be focused on learning. I think what parents are likely thinking when they talk about an emergency is when something happens at school. But even then, there are proper ways for kids to communicate with their parents. If a child gets sick at school, calling mom from the bathroom isn't the way to do it. Instead, the child should go to the nurse and let the nurse handle the contact. In most schools, illnesses are tracked by the nurse's office to try to watch for things like flu, lice, strep, etc. outbreaks. Let's just rip the bandage off -- kids carrying cell phones is kind of a security blanket for most parents; they gain comfort knowing their kid is only a text or a call away. I'm a mom and a grandma -- I totally get this! But as a teacher, that cell phone is a whole different beast.
When kids have their phones, they are just too tempted to check them. That buzz of an alert is a siren call. I know it is because I'm an adult and it does the same thing for me. I also know how easy it is to just take a quick glance at a notification, then decide to open the app for just a quick second, and end up down a rabbit hole of checking a few more things on my phone. If this is happening to me, then I know it's happening to kids. I also know it because I have seen it. Some kids will try to hide checking their phones by hiding it in their laps or under a book. Some kids will ask to go to their locker or the bathroom to be able to look at it outside of class and the teacher's eyes. And let me be real honest here: speaking from experience, I can tell you that you can ask the kids to put the phone away and some will comply, but many won't. They either wait for an opportunity to look at their phone again, or some just outright refuse. That was my experience with one of the last lessons I taught. A number of 8th grade students had their phones out and when I asked them to put them away, some just ignored me, some just moved it under a book, and one actually told me no, he would put it away when he was done "checking something." Now, if you're thinking then I should just take the phone away, well, I could, but let me give you another reality check: when a teacher confiscates a phone, some parents get huffy about that. Teachers shouldn't be touching student's personal property; what if the teacher violates the student's privacy by looking at what's on the phone? I remember when we used to take the phones and have a parent pick it up in the office after school when kids were repeat cell phone users; parents came in hopping mad at the inconvenience. Y'all, support from home would go a long way, but unfortunately, it's not always there, and even if it is a minority of parents who get angry, it makes teachers wary to try again with another student.
I think what parents really want is the ability for there to be communication in case of something serious happening at school, like a fire, tornado, or shooting. Again, I get that. The text threads I've seen between kids in school shootings and their parents grab at my heart like they do for anyone who reads them. But, if I may, let me offer a teacher's perspective again on how the kids having phones can be problematic.
Depending on the situation, quiet, even silence, is important. Not just for kids to be able to hear instructions but for safety. If the most appropriate thing to do in a school shooting situation, for instance, is lock down and hide to be out of sight, the idea is for a shooter to think a room is empty. A cell phone that rings or pings could call attention to a classroom or other space where students are and put everyone in danger. In addition, kids need to be paying attention to the adults in charge of the situation to know what to do, and they can't do that effectively if they're too busy texting. In addition, kids may end up reporting incorrect information to parents, or a parent may rush to the school in a panic -- a natural reaction. But schools have protocols for emergency situations, and that includes rendezvous points that are safe. Parents who rush to a school in a panic may find themselves in the middle of a chaotic situation and their presence there may end up hampering efforts of first responders. Parents need to do their level best to stay calm, wait for official information from official channels, and be ready to meet their kids or responders at the appropriate location. When you're terrified your child is scared, hurt, or worse, that kind of rational thinking can be near impossible, but it's needed and the best way to help your child in that moment.
From a less emotional standpoint, some people may say that phones are needed to help with learning. And I couldn't agree more! The truth is some schools simply don't have the money or infrastructure to provide technology to all their students, so students are often allowed to supplement by bringing their own devices. In cases like that, I encourage the use of phones by students as long as they are following the rules for use Set forth by their school. But in a district like the one I used to work in, every student had a Chromebook to use, and that enabled them to be able to do what they needed to do without having to use their phones. Related to this, my district was also able to recently equip each classroom with a phone that can be used to lockdown a school with the touch of a button and call 911 and provide the exact location of where the 911 call came from. Not all schools may be able to do things like establish advanced phone systems or give every kid a device to use. In those cases, then maybe kids having cell phones might be a good thing.
Every school and school district is different, and ultimately, we have to put our faith in the leaders of the schools to understand what is best for those students. Unfortunately, for many schools, that looks like a ban on cell phones for the time being. (If you don't have faith in your school leaders -- superintendent, principal, school board, etc., then I encourage you to contact those people directly to voice your concerns and have discussions, or maybe even consider running for school board yourself to be able to help make the positive change you want.) Maybe schools being phone free for a while can be used as a reset, and after a couple years of detoxing the classroom of the impact of phones, allowing them again can happen. Honestly, if kids and parents could just agree to follow some simple rules, bans wouldn't be necessary. The rules are actually pretty simple and straightforward: don't use or look at your phone during classtime without permission from a teacher. In an emergency, stay off your phone to keep yourself and others safe and so you can hear instructions. And when you do have the chance to use your phone at school, just use it appropriately.
I didn't even get into all the other issues that cell phones bring with them, like cyber bullying and cheating. Yep, those things happen, too. Teachers commonly found kids using their phones to cheat by looking up answers of using a calculator for math. And kids even harass other kids during the day. We actually had a rash of air drop issues a couple years ago where kids would air drop files that were grossly inappropriate, and kids whose phones could accept those air drops saw those files and it caused all sorts of disruptions.
I know it's not easy to accept a phone-free school. Even I feel a twinge of anxiety at not having my phone with me all the time. But I can tell you from experience that the impact of cell phones in the classroom right now is more negative than positive and probably calls for some drastic action to get set right again.
