> There's no good description of the actual ban here?

> At my kid's school phones and all other electronics can't be visible when class starts or ends or the teacher takes it.

All of these articles are so confusing to me because they act like banning smartphones in class is something new. Is this actually new? Were there schools where students weren’t getting in trouble for using phones during class?

The closest thing I’ve seen to an actual ban is a rule that phones must be kept in lockers during the entire school day, including between classes and during lunch. I could see this requiring adjustment for kids.

However I’m baffled by the articles that imply smartphones were not banned from use during class. Was this really ever a thing?

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xp84 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

Most schools don't have lockers anymore.

But in most schools where there aren't really strong bans, what happens is of course you're not supposed to be texting and playing games during class, but the teachers at worst would ask you to put it down. They daren't actually take the phone for myriad reasons:

• Could start a physical altercation

• Parents are going to harangue the teacher about how they "need it" to stay in touch with their kids "for safety" or some long story about some supposed responsibility the kid needs to be reachable for

• Risk of liability (what if another kid steals it while it's in custody)

• End of the day one way or another it'll just be given back, so why waste your effort and risk all of the above for basically nothing.

I think the newer bans may be more about actual school administration support intended to assure teachers and other staff that there will be effective consequences of continual phone abuse, so that it's not pointless to try to enforce no-phone rules.

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duxup 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

My kid's middle school made national news for their ban for several weeks.

Really it wasn't a new thing at all, just enforced appropriately. Teacher sees electronics (of any kind) and it's taken and you pick it up at the office. Multiple violations and parents get to meet with the staff to talk about it (that's the real kicker).

Yeah it wasn't new, for some reason these articles just never mention that it's really about a "new" policy that means actual enforcement.

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Aurornis 4 days ago | parent [-]

> Yeah it wasn't new, for some reason these articles just never mention that it's really about a "new" policy that means actual enforcement

This is confirming some of my suspicion.

Smartphone ban articles are trending, so journalists feel pressured to write something about it. They all around to schools and learn about their smartphone policy, then write that as a new-ish thing so they can jump on the trend.

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cooperadymas 4 days ago | parent [-]

The first sentence of the article:

> New York City students are one week into the statewide phone ban.

Yes, this is a new thing.

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throwup238 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

The statewide ban is a new thing, but phones were already banned when I went to school decades ago, along with gameboys, MP3 players, and all other electronics except a calculator. If you had it out in class, it would get taken away.

That kids were ever allowed smartphones to begin with is a regression from the status quo we had not long ago.

	▲	macNchz 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		It sounds to me like the distinction here is that the ban in NY specifies the entire school day, as opposed to just during class.

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duxup 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think the other user's question is asking a broader question than you're answering. They likely know the statewide ban is new, but the school policy may not be entirely new.

Unlikely that phone usage was unlimited in class with no restrictions before the statewide ban.

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Aurornis 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I acknowledged that, but I was asking specifically about the article’s implication that phones were allowed in class. Read further down and there’s a comment from someone who said they finished their work and just had to stare at a wall instead of using their phone.

That’s what confuses me: Many of these articles are implying that phones were allowed everywhere previously, whereas my understanding was that the previous status quo was that they were only allowed in between classes, at lunch, or before/after school hours.

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filchermcurr 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It was a thing, yeah. The schools around here didn't care. Kids were all on their phones during class, walking through the halls, during lunch, etc. Teachers gave up telling them to put them away because the students ignored them and teachers have no authority anymore. They can ask nicely and that's the extent of their power (at least in my district).

It was quite the shock when the statewide ban happened. Parents and students alike are still complaining about it.

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