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by Tom Amselm

Cell Phones Biggest Culprit

Back about a month ago, I promised to get back to you about something that really bothers me about today’s culture in schools. Therefore, at the risk of sounding like that crabby old man I’ve never wanted to become, here goes.

The cell phone is detrimental to learning. That wondrous invention, that computer in one’s pocket, has become a scourge to educators. I see it in high schools, with middle schools a bit less, and in schools at all economic levels.

These electronic devices deflect attention from instruction, cause multiple class interruptions, are reasons for kids running into each other in the halls, and can even be the catalyst for fights.

Some fights come when kids are scrambling to charge their units as they enter a classroom with far fewer electrical sockets than phones needing juice. Arguments and pushing ensue, even before the tardy bell rings. (Hmmm. The tardy bell. A bell that rings before the “actual” class bell, warning kids that hey… you’re gonna be late for class! Why do we coddle?)

As students move from class to class, they have in their little palms their ‘reconnect to the world’, catching up on photos and texts since the last time they were able to check, as if something earth-shaking has happened in the foregoing 49 minutes they were being tortured by that awful instructor. That is, unless they’d already snuck a look at their screens when teacher was loading the Smart Board lesson, or reprimanding little Johnny or Susie for looking down at their lap from which, you guessed it, there emanated that telltale blue-glow of light from their own iphone.

And so we have further interruptions in instruction, such as warnings that they will have to give the teacher the phone, which students never really take seriously. Kids getting up in the middle of class to unplug their device, now fully charged. Another claiming the newly-available socket. Giggles from the back of the room when one kid shows another a picture using an “app” that makes the photo look like a dog or swapping faces or some other totally ridiculous rendition. Another interruption in instruction.

I was recently in an in-school suspension room where two guys were playing against each other on a video game. Each on their own phone during time when they should have been reading. After several warnings from the instructor. In an in-school suspension room! I am not making any of this up. And it happens in the “best” of schools.

Please know that I am not here to ridicule teachers. But, honestly, I feel like some educators have surrendered to this cultural phenomenon. In every classroom there are signs that electronic devices are not to be used. School policy, clearly stated. ‘Put away all cell phones and devices upon entering.” “Distractive use of electronic devices is prohibited.”

Still, enforcement can be sporadic. However, one high school teacher I talked with has a great plan, easily administered, and clearly effective. Understanding that virtually everyone has a phone in their possession, she has a box with slots that have a numbered card. The box sits on a table at the door. Phones go in, card comes out. At the end of class, the reverse. It takes about five minutes total time to do this. But that simple act effectively ends any further class time being used to deal with all of the above shenanigans.

And if a kid fails to do the exchange, and is caught accessing their device during class, the teacher collects it, and the kid can go to the office at the end of the day to retrieve it. If the miscreant refuses or balks, phone call to the office for intervention. After one or two times of this happening, the teacher told me, the students get the idea that she is serious, and it seldom happens again. She’s been doing this for five years, and word has spread:

“No phones in Ms. G’s class, bro.”

Every teacher has the right and responsibility to do this same thing. Of course, it must be backed up by administration, which can be inconsistent. But I feel like kids want to know their limits, despite all the moaning about “all these rules,” and they need to know there will be consequences. It is a lesson that educators can teach in addition to solving quadratic equations and what is the capital of Kazakhstan.

Okay. So enough of this. I’m out of space.

Just don’t get me started on letting kids listen to music when they’re working.   Or dress code violations. Arrrrgh.

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