More Americans now support banning phones all day at school, not just in class
2026-08-01 20:31 UTC
Replies (5)
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@pasdechance@jlai.lu 2026-08-01 21:55
I think this is a tough one to weigh in on depending where you come from. If I lived somewhere where the news talked about school shootings a lot, I might want my child to have a phone. Go after the companies making addictive applications instead.
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@AeonFelis@lemmy.world 2026-08-03 00:48
I, too, am generally in favor of virtuously-sounding limitations placed upon demographics I am not a part of and never will be.
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@Vitaly_Chernobyl@sopuli.xyz 2026-08-03 03:07
I teach middle school in a state with a cell phone ban. We had our first year with the phone ban last year, and I thought it was an improvement. Phones can be very detrimental to the school experience. For one, it is very difficult to teach kids who are already unwilling or resistant to learning while they have a piece of technology they are literally addicted to in their hand. Secondly, phones and social media contribute to a lot to the bullying, violence, and general misbehavior that occurs at schools. My school district also provides all students with an iPad, so they have their own school-provided tech. In my experience, this comes with their own problems though. I often feel like I am playing “whack-a-mole” keeping kids off their iPads (playing games, etc.) during instruction. It’s nice to be able to incorporate technology into lessons, and it definitely is more convenient for teaching, but I don’t think the trade off is worth it. For example, the cheating with A.I. was off the charts for me last year. This coming school year, I am looking to incorporate more paper and pencil assignments into my teaching. A lot of my students seem to favor assignments where they aren’t using their iPads. I think most agree that these kids’ eyeballs need a break from the screens. Also, to people with concerns about the phone ban, students are allowed to bring their phone to school. My state’s law states that the phone must be turned off and in the student’s backpack during instructional hours. Students may be on their phone at school before and after classes start. In the event of an emergency, no one is going to care if the students get their phone out their bag to call their adult. So, kids will retain access to their phone. In fact, most of the students carry their phones around in the pocket and none of the teachers generally care as long as the student isn’t blatantly using their phone during class time. If a kid is caught using their phone during class time, they have to turn it in to the main office for the remainder of the day will escalating consequences for repeat offenses. Also, I’m sure it varies from teacher to teacher, but I am very understanding when a kid needs to contact a parent/guardian. I will always allow my students to use the phone in my classroom, call a parent from the main office, or use their cell phone in the hall as long as the kid asks permission and explains the situation.
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@DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 2026-08-03 01:04
Y’all need to go read /r/teachers to learn what a scourge phones in classrooms are. The teachers are begging for an outright ban.
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@late_pessimistic@slrpnk.net 2026-08-03 03:32
Had a friend in the most expensive private school in my area. They had phones banned over a decade ago already. Probably because richer parents have more mental bandwidth to worry about children’s digital footprint and neural development rather than survival. Thus I believe extending this ban to public schools is only fair. Distraction-free and surveillance-free environment for children shouldn’t be a luxury reserved for few.