Cellphone ban in schools!

[Cycling76er]

I support this ban. Smartphones turn people into mindless zombies.


Sent from my iPhone.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by getbak

And put them on the kid's face?

I'm glad I didn't have to say it, but ya. That was my second and final thought.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Cycling76er

I support this ban. Smartphones turn people into mindless zombies.


Sent from my iPhone.

Thanks for letting us know you posted from your iPhone.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Cycling76er

I support this ban. Smartphones turn people into mindless zombies.


Sent from my iPhone.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Thanks for letting us know you posted from your iPhone.

Thanks for reiterating the joke for us.

[BigThief]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Thanks for letting us know you posted from your iPhone.

There might still be time to delete this.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Imagine a scenario where a student outright refuses to give it up and a teacher is left with a choice of physically overpowering a pre-teen or teenager to take their phone away or move on with their job and teach the 30 other kids in the room.

I know as a 210 pound man if a 12 year old in my class is refusing to give me something I am not risking my safety or my job to lay my hands on them to physically take it.

Or a scenario where the teacher does take the phone and puts it in the office and an irate parent comes to the school at the end of the day accusing the teacher of forcefully taking their child's personal property.



It is certainly helpful when parents are supportive of teachers and on board with consequences. The number of parents who would rather not lay down boundaries and consequences for their kids is growing rapidly. You can imagine it's not a stretch to say that kids who are chronically disrupting class and ignoring rules around phone use are not the ones with the strongest boundaries in place at home.

I think this move by the government is a good one, as it sets clear top-down expectations around phone use. We can now point to legislation to force kids to keep their phones away.

Can’t you just fail them if they refuse to put it away?

I’d basically just say phone away or I’ll assume you’re cheating and if you’re cheating you get 0 / it’ll reflect on your report card.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

I know as a 210 pound man if a 12 year old in my class is refusing to give me something I am not risking my safety or my job to lay my hands on them to physically take it.

And how does the law change that situation?

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Can’t you just fail them if they refuse to put it away?

I’d basically just say phone away or I’ll assume you’re cheating and if you’re cheating you get 0 / it’ll reflect on your report card.

Fail them? I don't think that is allowed anymore is it? Cellphones should be banned in schools but there is no way the teacher should be the one to enforce this. Parents need to take more responsibility for their kids actions and I like the post above about parents retrieving cellphones from the school after so many offences but 8/10 people here wouldn't go complain to their neighbour, myself included so why should we expect a teacher to be put in that situation. Many parents wouldn't take a phone from their kid and we expect teachers to do it.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Raekwon

Fail them? I don't think that is allowed anymore is it? Cellphones should be banned in schools but there is no way the teacher should be the one to enforce this. Parents need to take more responsibility for their kids actions and I like the post above about parents retrieving cellphones from the school after so many offences but 8/10 people here wouldn't go complain to their neighbour, myself included so why should we expect a teacher to be put in that situation. Many parents wouldn't take a phone from their kid and we expect teachers to do it.

I definitely agree but my point was moreso I don’t think the choices for a teacher are a) do nothing or B) wrestle children for their phones, which was what was posited in the post I was responding to.

Like something tells me that a teacher can be more creative with punishment but I fully admit that it’s getting more challenging by the day and that the best answer is parents stepping up and aligning with the teacher.

Kids don’t need phones in classrooms. I think it’s questionable they need phones at all, period, but I’m also not here to judge everyone- just my opinion.

[EldrickOnIce]

I don't really get it. Everything here is digital now (middle school on). Assignments given and returned via iPad or Chromebook. Why take this tool away?
Outside of school we limit screen time. As parents.

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

I don't really get it. Everything here is digital now (middle school on). Assignments given and returned via iPad or Chromebook. Why take this tool away?
Outside of school we limit screen time. As parents.

If the majority kids were using this tool in an appropriate manner, this ban wouldn't be happening. If they were diligently taking notes on their phones, researching the topics being discussed by the teacher, engaging in the classroom discourse with what they've learned, this ban wouldn't be happening.

But they're not. They're on social media, messaging, watching unrelated TikTok and YouTube videos.

How do you expect a teacher to monitor that the 30-40 tools are being used appropriately?

Not all parents limit screen time and it shows when the child brings their device to school.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by KTrain

If the majority kids were using this tool in an appropriate manner, this ban wouldn't be happening. If they were diligently taking notes on their phones, researching the topics being discussed by the teacher, engaging in the classroom discourse with what they've learned, this ban wouldn't be happening.

But they're not. They're on social media, messaging, watching unrelated TikTok and YouTube videos.

How do you expect a teacher to monitor that the 30-40 tools are being used appropriately?

Not all parents limit screen time and it shows when the child brings their device to school.

I don't expect them to monitor that. It's an impossible situation to put them in. If it is a concern to you, as a parent, enforce your own 'ban' on your own kids' phone. This is possible. It's not malcolmk14's job to do this for me.

[undercoverbrother]

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

I don't expect them to monitor that. It's an impossible situation to put them in. If it is a concern to you, as a parent, enforce your own 'ban' on your own kids' phone. This is possible. It's not malcolmk14's job to do this for me.

I tend to agree with your posts here. I don't think they should be in younger kids classrooms in any extent. By high school though, kids need to learn to sink or swim in their school/work/life while co-existing with cell phones.

[The Fisher Account]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Can’t you just fail them if they refuse to put it away?

I’d basically just say phone away or I’ll assume you’re cheating and if you’re cheating you get 0 / it’ll reflect on your report card.

Fail a student? In 2024? That's funny.

My wife would have to apologize to her Principal and the kids parents for even suggesting such a devastating course of action to these little terrors

[WinnipegFan]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I tend to agree with your posts here. I don't think they should be in younger kids classrooms in any extent. By high school though, kids need to learn to sink or swim in their school/work/life while co-existing with cell phones.

I would agree with you if the system would allow kids to sink or swim. Unfortunately, society has removed that responsibility for kids and placed it in the teachers. We can’t give zeros, kids aren’t allowed to fail, we are held responsible so at that point we have to remove the “tool” (there is nothing in a classroom that needs a cellphone. A Chromebook is all they need and it’s a quarter of the cost).

We can’t allow cellphones because we have no grounds to manage them. We can’t take them, we can’t evaluate the behaviour they cause, we can’t punish the behaviour, so we are left trying to compete with everything they can access for the students attention. It’s a losing battle, this is a small step in the right direction. It’s more than a device, cellphones have alter brain development in kids and we let it happen.

[CaptainCrunch]

If the schools could block out social media sites, and non essential websites, except maybe research sites.



And block in coming and outgoing calls, except at lunch, or to emergency numbers, that would almost make sense.



I mean, I know we don't have a lot of school shootings in Canada, but access to 9/11 for students might be something to consider.


But the rest isn't needed.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Hell, I remember having graphing calculators banned becasue we'd program games into them.

And those people work in IT now.

I remember when calculators weren't even allowed. Or when you'd take a test and the teacher would come by and watch you clear the memory to make sure you weren't cheating.

Considering technology now?

On the flip-side however, I also think schools should incorporate a class of technological literacy. This is the future and these kids are by and large being left to figure it out for themselves.

But I hear what Malcolm is saying. He doesnt want to risk his career trying to physically remove something from a kid and then have to deal with the consequences.

Man...I remember if my teacher called my house because I was in trouble I'd be the one getting smacked around by my parents, and now its the teacher who would be in trouble....when did this switch flip?

[PepsiFree]

I feel like not everyone read the article, because some of the reactions don’t totally make sense with what’s actually being proposed. Or maybe people are just reacting to the suggestion they should be banned entirely (which is absurd).

Chalk it up to a broken clock being right twice a day, but I think they actually nailed this one. No cellphones in class, except for educational purposes or those who need them for agreed upon reasons, makes total sense. It helps kids, protects them from dip#### parents who haven’t set proper cellphone boundaries, and gives teachers and schools a “higher power” to defer to if anybody complains.

A total ban would just be entirely out of touch, imo. This isn’t 2004.