this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2025
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Summary

Cellphone bans in schools are gaining bipartisan momentum, with at least eight states, including California, Florida, and Virginia, enacting restrictions to combat classroom distractions and protect children’s mental health.

Governors from both parties, such as Arkansas' Sarah Huckabee Sanders and California's Gavin Newsom, support these measures, citing benefits of phone-free school days.

While some parents oppose bans, citing emergencies and transportation needs, proponents argue phones disrupt learning and may pose risks during crises.

States differ on implementation, from outright bans to district-level policies or funding for phone storage solutions.

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[–] avieshek 16 points 1 day ago

Seeing the unaddressed issue of bullying to class interruption if not cheating, dumb phones like the blackberry type should be allowed aka ban smartphones and not cellphones.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (6 children)

I was a teacher for a few years but tapped out and got back into the real world. My partner is a teacher. My ex is a tutor and former teacher.

Based on those experiences - cellphones are a menace. They always were, and always will be. Technology in the classroom should rarely be in the hands of students, and if it is in their hands, it should be made such that it cannot access the internet or anything non-educational. That's an absolute.

More importantly, we need parents to enforce these rules as moral bases. We shouldn't be distracting babies with screens when they're yelling and screaming. We shouldn't be letting kids have 'screen time' without clear supervision or with any form of internet content. We need parents who actually do the job, because as we become more reliant on technology it's gone from the TV Babysitter to the TV Parent to the Internet Parent. That's no way to live, to be educated, or to understand the world around you.

These statewide and district-wide bans and solutions are important. But what I think would be more important would be for there to be fines. Take it easy on the kid, but any time they're distracted by their phone or other electronic device, that's a $100 ticket issued to the parents. Misuse of school property?$500 ticket, and a bill for the cost of the device since it potentially has to be scrapped. I bet that if we did that, parents would send far, far fewer phones to school and make sure the kids only use school computers for school.

[–] bcgm3 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

But what I think would be more important would be for there to be fines.

I like this, it seems like a very practical approach that takes on the root issue. Parents need to address their kids' conduct in school, it can't solely be on the teachers and staff.

Just to play devil's advocate; what if the parents ultimately refuse to pay the fines?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

They withhold the diploma.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Same as with any fine related to a kid. CFS gets involved, and the parents get jailed.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Well Jesus fuck this escalated quickly.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

I don't see how it's that quick an escalation. When someone doesn't or can't pay assessed fines, they go to jail. That's just how our wealth-based justice system works. When those fines involve children, CFS/DYFS needs to get involved.

I'm also responding to the question of "ultimate refusal", that's not just one or two screwups, or referring anyone with a willingness to try and find a way to reduce the fines with community service time (like say, chaperoning a field trip for their kids' classes) or the like. This is working against someone who's planted their feet, refuses to be a good parent to their child, and refuses to pay in to the system which will inevitably have to try and clean up the mess they're making of this tiny human's social and mental state when that minor becomes a person.

If the parents legitimately can't pay, then have them volunteer for the school. Let them see the consequences of their actions first-hand.

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[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Kids should be allowed to have cell phones so they can learn good habits and self control with them.

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[–] bcgm3 7 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I have several friends who teach at middle- and high-school grade levels, and they all tell me the same thing: There aren't really clear rules in place governing cell phone use during class so kids are just fucking around with them all day, and even where the rules are clear, they have no authority to actually take a cell phone from a kid, even if they're being disruptive to the rest of the students.

On the other hand, an all-out ban (and even "phone storage solutions") just creates a new problem; keeping a potentially life-saving tool out of the hands of students in emergency situations.

I'm almost certainly over-simplifying this, but why not:

  1. Let the kids keep their phones
  2. Set forth strict guidelines for their use while on school property, and
  3. Ensure teachers have the authority to enforce those guidelines.
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

2 & 3 are not a solution, it's just ignoring the problem. You think teachers will ever do any teaching if they spend their whole day playing phone police? Unfortunately we have to counteract decades of festering phone addiction and kids are going to have to go cold turkey at some point. The storage solutions are silly but honestly that's the only way you'll actually get kids to put their phone away, put it in a locked Faraday bag. And the emergency reasoning is bogus. The teacher has a phone, an intercom, and a panic button. Having 30 kids call 911 while simultaneously making a ~tik tok~ rednote about it is not emergency response.

[–] bcgm3 -1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

You think teachers will ever do any teaching if they spend their whole day playing phone police?

Assuming they're struggling to get any teaching done while there are no rules in place, this still seems like a step in the right direction to me. But to answer your question, I suppose that depends on what the rules are, and how they're enforced. One infraction could mean your phone is taken away for the rest of the day, or until a parent comes to get it -- For example. The biggest problem I see with this approach would be that it foists a lot of liability onto the teacher -- As in, if there were an emergency situation for the student following the teacher taking their phone away, perhaps the teacher could be held liable in some way. Then again, I think this comes down to the administrative staff having a very clearly defined policy in place.

And the emergency reasoning is bogus. The teacher has a phone, an intercom, and a panic button.

And if the teacher is subdued? Or if the emergency takes place on school grounds, but outside of the classroom? Etc.

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[–] GrammarPolice 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Why is this a political issue? Banning phones should be the school's decision

[–] distantsounds 3 points 1 day ago

Everything in society is political. A school’s decision is a localized political decision. The AoE is the only difference

[–] AshMan85 1 points 1 day ago

and what are kids supposed to do when their school is attacked by a gunman? a phone is their only survival tool

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