| ▲ | dizzy9 5 hours ago |
| > In crafting its policy, Estacada incorporated feedback from parents. That led to some key decisions around the cell phone ban. Rather than use pouches or lockers, students are allowed to keep their phones safely stored in their backpacks. That was for two reasons — it allows students to contact loved ones during emergencies, and many parents use phone trackers to keep tabs on their kids. I'm glad to hear this. They're currently trying to shill the magnetically sealed pouches in the UK, but the flaws are obvious: massive bottleneck at the pouch station would delay entry and exit from the building, phones would be unavailable during emergencies or to record incidents of crime or staff malpractice, and financial burden on schools. Students can be trusted to obey a simple "no phones in class" rule. |
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| ▲ | starkparker 5 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Don't get it twisted, almost every Portland-area school has gone full in on the stupid fucking Yondr pouches, and yeah it fucked up entry/exit: https://katu.com/news/local/portland-students-adapt-to-new-c... They also begged parents to help pay for them: https://www.govtech.com/education/k-12/portland-schools-ask-... A friend's kid needs an exemption from their doctor because their phone is also their glucose monitor and diagnostic tracker, and the exception only allows them to unlock the pouch under supervision when necessary. |
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| ▲ | selectively 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | What a vulgar situation. Policy made from a moral panic and - look at that - it is negatively impacting actual people who exist. | | |
| ▲ | bpt3 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | It's not a moral panic. There are loads of studies indicating that disconnected classrooms produce better outcomes for students. I'm not sure what argument there is for allowing all students unfettered access to their phones, but feel free to present one. | | |
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| ▲ | briffle 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Kids are smart. My school district has sealed pouches.. Its amazing how many kids throw an old phone in there, and put their actual one away hidden on silent. Which I guess gets looked the other way, since they aren't using it in class. |
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| ▲ | rtkwe 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | It's definitely a mix of the actual phone pouches and the bans giving teachers actual authority and permission to confiscate phones when they're out and disruptive. IMO there's likely a shift that happens with pouches where there are enough kids following the rules and only having one phone in the pouch that it tips the social balance over. That would be harder with just teacher enforced bans I think. It's definitely a hard problem over all balancing their completely disruptive nature if there's no bounds to the issues around safety and parental worry from not being able to contact their kid all the time which phones have made the norm. |
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| ▲ | kimbernator 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| >Students can be trusted to obey a simple "no phones in class" rule. I'm honestly not educated on the topic right now since I haven't been in school for 15 years and have some time left before my daughter starts, but is this rule really not in place in most schools? How could any school justify not having this rule at the very least, regardless of how well-enforced it is? I always assumed it was a lack of enforcement due to understaffing that was the problem |
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| ▲ | DANmode 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | It’s a lack of enforcement due to unruly, unparented children, in most regions’ school districts. | | |
| ▲ | kimbernator 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | I tend to avoid placing the blame on individuals (parents in this case) when the problem being described is so widespread. People act as rationally as they can, so if it's that common, it's a systemic failure. Scolding the masses is a fool's errand. |
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| ▲ | rootusrootus 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| This is how it works in my kids' school. Not Estacada, but not that far away, and not in Portland. No pouches or lockers, just an understanding that phones which are seen will be confiscated. First time they get sent to the office and returned as the student leaves school. Second time they have to be picked up by a parent. You'd think it would be a huge deal with rebellious teens, but my daughter says it has basically been a non-issue. |
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| ▲ | jon-wood 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| The sealed pouches are a bit of theatre. My son's school has a policy that pupil's can take their phones to school but if one is seen or heard on the school grounds it'll be confiscated and the owner's parents called to come pick it up on their behalf. From what I hear they're not shy about applying that policy either. |
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| ▲ | alexfoo 4 hours ago | parent [-] | | Offsetting part of the punishment to the parents (having to get them to come in to the school to collect the phone) is going to help get the policy reinforced from home in most cases. My kid’s school had a similar policy. I didn't mind having to go out of my way to collect the phone and didn’t pass any of that on to my kid, they were annoyed enough about having it confiscated that it only took a few times before they modified their behaviour accordingly. |
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| ▲ | eloisant 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| > it allows students to contact loved ones during emergencies, and many parents use phone trackers to keep tabs on their kids That's such bullshit. - There is no emergency that require students to contact anyone. Communication can go through the school - Parents have no business tracking their kids when they're at school |
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| ▲ | heavygrit 3 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | > Parents have no business tracking their kids when they're at school The tracker sends a notification when they're not at school, that's the point. Plus, I can lock down social media apps only during school hours. Blanket statements like this are plain ignorant. Also, I'm glad Utah finally passed a similar ban. Phones in use in class are a tremendous distraction 99% of the time. | | |
| ▲ | jwcooper 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | This is ridiculous. The school will notify you if the student is not at school, or the teachers will eventually (or their grades/missing assignments). Also you don't need to track your kids to enable school time mode, if you want to lock down their phone during school. What are you going to do when they go to college? Track them? Monitor them? Make sure they go to classes? At some point, you just have to trust your kids to do the right thing. It's a part of them learning how to grow up and be independent. It's better to make mistakes the younger you are so you can learn from them when there is less on the line. | | |
| ▲ | heavygrit 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | This is even more ridiculous, how about that?? My particular school will send a message at 5pm daily with any attendance issues, but I can be notified instantly through the app. Why would I ever choose to be less informed? Also, I appreciate your points about college, but have you noticed a large number of students disproportionately boys are disenchanted with the whole education system at large and opting out of college. I'm clinging on to a hope that mine will see the value, but there are lots of different developmental speeds and some students need more guidance than others. You do realize some high school students just become burnouts, right? Your one size fits all, hands off and trust mentality is naïve and if you happen to be a parent, hopefully you'll be able to avoid the situation of parenting a student in crisis. Cell phones are a major problem in schools and I'm glad to see efforts being made to address it |
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| ▲ | TimorousBestie 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Oof, the “my child is my property” parents are not gonna like this. |
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| ▲ | Aurornis 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| > Students can be trusted to obey a simple "no phones in class" rule That was the general policy before these bans. It was not working. |
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| ▲ | fennecfoxy 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| >Students can be trusted to obey a simple "no phones in class" rule. And what if they don't? En masse? |
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| ▲ | rtkwe 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | At first a lot of parents get inconvenienced coming to get confiscated phones and if that doesn't inspire them to discipline their kid at home the school can move to the more draconian pouch systems. |
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