This is the easiest article we’ve ever written. DPS administration and Board Members say they want to make learning a priority, that they want to do whatever it takes to lessen the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and those with means, that they want to help this generation of youth which self-diagnose as more unhappy than older generations, and now is their chance to help. We can talk about it, or we can do something. Other schools, districts, and even countries are banning smartphones from the classroom, and we can either let everyone else move out ahead of us or we can jump on the pro-learning wave. France banned smartphones in primary and middle schools in 2018. Ontario, Canada has enacted significant restrictions on student cellphone use in schools. Two districts in Missouri banned cell phones last month. Around the country in private schools, large school districts, and even at the state level smartphone use among students is under evaluation. Heck, even extremely liberal California passed a law in 2019 explicitly authorizing:
I worked as a substitute in the district for about 10 years. The presence of cellphones in the classroom was a source of CONTINUAL disruption. The issue became so crucial to me that I wrote a letter to both the administration and the board, recommending the adoption of strict, enforceable restrictions. This was around 2013 or so. I suspect the situation has not improved since then.
The issue of emergencies is an important one, however. Schools can adopt protocols for communicating with parents/guardians in the rare event such an emergency arises.
I worked as a substitute in the district for about 10 years. The presence of cellphones in the classroom was a source of CONTINUAL disruption. The issue became so crucial to me that I wrote a letter to both the administration and the board, recommending the adoption of strict, enforceable restrictions. This was around 2013 or so. I suspect the situation has not improved since then.
The issue of emergencies is an important one, however. Schools can adopt protocols for communicating with parents/guardians in the rare event such an emergency arises.