Back in my day (did I just say that), but seriously back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s cell phones as a distraction in the classroom was just not a problem to even be mentioned. I like to reminisce with my students some days and tell them that passing notes between classes and using lockers like mailboxes was how we communicated during the day. My absolute worse fear was a teacher confiscating my notes from friends. By the time I started driving in 2001, I was allowed to carry the “family” cell phone that could call and text (which I never did because a text was like $0.25 each).
Fast forward to today and almost all of my 7th and 8th grade students have some version of the latest smart phone. Even though it is school policy that phones are “off and away”, many students try to get around that rule.
So listed below are the things that teachers wished parents knew about cell phones in school.
- Teachers support and respect a parent’s right to give their child a phone for safety reasons as they walk through the neighborhood to go home, we just wish it didn’t come at the expense of your child’s attention in class.
- There is no reason that your child cannot securely lock their cell phone up in their locker during school.
- Please do not text or call your child when you know that they are in school. If you need your to talk to your child, any parent can call the main office and get connected to their child. Every classroom has a phone that the office can call.
- See #3. If you call or text your child and a teacher issues a consequence for having a phone out during class, the child feels like an injustice has occurred because it should be ok to use a phone in class if it is to respond to a parent.
- See #3 and #4, students will lie and always say that they are texting mom or dad….in reality it is likely someone else.
- Social media becomes not only a distraction, but a source of conflict. If students are monitoring their social media accounts during school, often an argument that starts in the world of social media becomes a real-world issue in school.
- Selfies…..no student needs to be sneaking out a cell phone to take a picture of themselves or others in class. Often another student in class will get upset thinking that a classmate is taking a picture or video of them to upload on social media.
- Lastly, while all of this is going on your child’s teacher just wants to teach your child while helping them learn social skills to be successful in the future.
I want to hear from teachers and parents! What am I missing? How is this debate viewed from the parent’s perspective?