High school teacher believes all schools should ban phones in the classroom

This was received with some reluctance opposition from seniors and parents, but overall, after one month, teachers and students agreed that the policy was effective in limiting student distraction and instead creating learning environments conducive to concentration and engagement.

Children pay more attention

As the school year progressed, I paid attention to how the policy was still having an impact my classes and studentsI often had to remind students at the beginning of a lesson to put their cell phones in the designated slot. Some students slipped through this system, either by arriving late to class or simply going unnoticed.

But throughout the year, I repeated without complaint, “phones in the caddy, please,” because what I saw the rest of the class was worth it: kids with me as I explained the day’s lesson, kids with each other even when the conversation felt tense as they discussed ethical dilemmas, kids with themselves—their own meandering thoughts—as, instead of sneaking a glance at their phones under the desk, they sat quietly in the novelty of a undisturbed moment and maybe even looked inside.

Some of my favorite days have been when, after class has ended, a student comes back five or ten minutes later because he forgot his phone existed. certain studentsthis was no different than forgetting yesterday’s assignment at home. But for others, they picked up their phones with a different kind of shy grin: “Mrs. B, I actually forgot I had a phone at all.”

They like not having their phone with them

And honestly, when I asked students last spring to respond to what they thought of the cell phone policy after experiencing it for a school year, their responses were: also nice to hear. Here are a few:

• “Although it may be a little inconvenient, I really like the phone policy. It’s easier for people to enjoy each other when they’re not on their phones. If we can use our phones outside of class, half the people are just on their phones playing games.”
• “The phone policy is great. Not having notifications distracting me every second helps me learn better. Outside of class, I’m usually on my phone and often use it to procrastinate, which doesn’t help me get my work done. So I appreciate it when someone holds me accountable to put my phone away when class starts.”
• “To be honest, I think the phone policy is really good and fair. It has helped me stay focused and connected with my classmates, and the classroom dynamic is much better without phones.”

I could give 50 more responses that are similar to this one. After reading them and talking to my colleagues who reported the same observational findings and are still enthusiastic about continuing our school’s phone policy into its second year, the question for me changed from “Did the policy work?” to “Why don’t all schools adopt similar policies?”

Teenagers already have to deal with a lot

In conversations with teachers across the country, the reasons emerged telephone policy The reasons why schools don’t work or aren’t implemented focus on three main issues: safety (parents want their children to be reachable, especially during this time of increased school violence), liability (phones are expensive, and some districts have held teachers liable when they confiscated a phone that a student later claimed was damaged), and lack of clear, consistent policy support (it can be difficult to get an entire staff behind a policy, maintain energy for its consistent enforcement, and ensure that enforcement is done fairly).

These are understandable concerns. It’s also true that phones and related technologies are things that today’s teens will have to learn to handle — without the responsibility of a phone caddy — for the foreseeable future.

However, if you are a teacher, administrator, parent, or just someone who cares about the experience of young people in your community, I urge you to think beyond these concerns—What if they complain? What if I can’t reach them? What if it doesn’t work?—and take a moment to reread what my students wrote above.

I hope you notice that their feedback comes from a place of appreciation.

You’ve probably heard that teenagers today have to deal with a lot: the negative effects of social mediarising rates of anxiety and depression, plus the age-old pressures that come with growing up.

When teens tell us they appreciate it adults are adults, we should listen and then act by setting some boundaries for them around their phones in the classroom. They may not say thank you in front of their friends, but that’s okay too.

In my experience, teens say all sorts of interesting things when they put down their phones, lean forward, and start talking.