It’s been a long time since mobile phones arrived in the nation’s schools, but educators are still grappling with what to do about them.
Should they be allowed in elementary schools? What about middle-schoolers using them at lunch? Which limits make the most sense for devices so ubiquitous?
What has become a more settled matter for high school students is sparking questions and controversy in lower grades, some two decades after mobile phones became an inescapable part of the cultural landscape.
The debate has emerged in Maryland’s biggest school system — in suburban Montgomery County — where some of the rules have been relaxed in recent months.
It used to be that students through fifth grade could carry cellphones only with special permission. But over the years, an increasing number of parents wanted their elementary-age children to take phones to school, often believing kids would be safer — walking home or in an emergency — with the device at the ready.
As the Maryland district recently moved to do away with the old rule, other parents objected — shocked that children as young as 6 or 7 would be permitted to bring smartphones to school. One father recalled his child’s school banning fidget spinners and Pokémon cards. Why allow cellphones?
“A phone would be more of a distraction,” said Art Bennett, who has three children in Montgomery schools. “Unless there’s a demonstrated need, I don’t see why there ought to be phones in elementary school at all.”
The change in district rules, which took effect this fall, also allows middle school students to use cellphones during lunch if principals give the okay — an idea that has conjured images of children bent over phones in the cafeteria and left parents, already worried about the hours their children spend on screens, dismayed.
“We all know the phone is a blessing and a curse,” said Lisa Cline, co-chair of a safe technology subcommittee of the countywide council of PTAs. “I don’t see why we want to make these children into little adults.”...
...Students are supposed to use the district’s network while in school, and social media sites in Montgomery are blocked for middle-schoolers, although some break the rules and go off the network to access them. High school students can use Facebook and Twitter through the network...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/schools-and-cellphones-in-elementary-schools-at-lunch/2017/11/13/1061064a-ba81-11e7-a908-a3470754bbb9_story.html?utm_term=.969a46bd4436
A number of kids - and staff! - at my kids' schools can't use the MCPS network. Until that's fixed, kids HAVE to go off-network to use devices in school, and more teachers are encouraging/expecting device use in high school especially.
ReplyDeletePrincipal Serino allowed cell phones at Westland MS even before this fall despite strong objections from many parents. Last year she allowed students to use cell phones at school for a week or two before asking parents for input. She likes it because it makes lunches very quiet. She must also think that Westland is full of wealthy families.
ReplyDeleteThey don't name it "School of Excellence" for no reason
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