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MJ  Logan's avatar

I am a retired middle school teacher. Many schools, at least when I taught, started and ended the day with a homeroom. To simplify holding phones during the school day, this is what I’m thinking might work. Each student could have a pouch of some sort ( draw string bag) with his/ her name on it. Bring the phone to homeroom in the morning , put it on the desk enclosed in its identifying bag, teacher picks the phones up, puts them in a locked cabinet, file box of some sort, or whatever. During homeroom at the end of the day, the teacher passes out the phones. It’s quick and easy to do this, with the phone in a bag with the student’s name on it. If the student has to leave early because of a sporting event , etc. he / she should leave the phone at home that day. ( or in student’s locked car if a high school student) The teacher should not be bothered to find the phone early for the student.

I think it is vitally important that students do NOT have phones at all during the school day. For the parent who feels they need to have access to their student during the school day, call the central office like parents did in the past. The same for a student, go to the central office if a call needs to be made to the parent. Somehow before cell phones we all managed to get through the school day. It’s a burden on teachers and detracts from learning if each classroom has to have different cell phone rules. Teachers should not have to deal with cell phones in their classrooms with some being the “bad guy” who makes students put phones away and some teachers are the “good guys” being lax about cell phones. Those are just a few thoughts.

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Mark Colligan's avatar

We implemented an 8am-3:30pm NO phones for any reason (even class instruction/use) at the end of the 23-24 school year. Off, away, not visible (a turned-off phone in the back pocket is also confiscated for parent pick-up). IT HAS BEEN A SCHOOL CHANGER!

We know this because we observe, and have to deal with :), old-school problems: loud hallways, holes in walls, romantic relationships developing, loud talking and laughing in between classes, games (made-up, board, acting, etc) "logging" the hallways, and far more teacher-student-student F2F interactions.

Although we have had a cell-phone policy for years, a clear-cut bell-to-bell NO circumstances has been the only one enforceable.

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