For Districts that pilot a cell phone restriction policy, the department will “likely” create a matching grant program of up to $1 million, this was said by Jeffery Riley, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education commissioner.
He said at this time it is not a mandate, but certainly interested in piloting more of this. Riley invited administrators, teachers and pupils from schools that have instituted bans or restrictions, to speak at the meeting which is held by the Board of Elementary and secondary education.
Some representatives mentioned that students should not use cell phones at the start of the class. Other schools restricted phone use in the hallway as well.
The Eliot K-8 Innovation school in Boston, asked students, as they walk into their classroom, the phone should be kept in a magnetically sealed pouch. These pouches can only be unlocked by teachers or at the end of the day.
Director of the Eliot school said that, in case of emergency there are magnets in the classrooms where the teacher can unlock the magnetic sealed pouch.
Educators say that, since COVID 19 lockdown students, reliance on devises has increased, which caused the student to look to screens for social interaction and learning.
Some on the panel said that you should not ban completely student from using phones, if not they won’t know how to use phones responsibly and practice self-control.
With all these different opinions, I think that students aren’t given the initiative to, kind of, restrain themselves and learn to deal with distraction, said by Alexander Sproule, a student at Concord-Carlisle High School.
Patrick Tutwiler, Education Secretary asked the panelist how other technology like Apple Watches- which are compatible with iPhones and receive text message and social media notification- fit into the phone bans.
There was not much discussions about the advantages of cell phones in classroom. Though Board chair Katherine Craven asked if there was any thought given, with using a phone as a pedagogical tool or a pathway to learn more.
Educators said that the teachers can give the phone to students, only if it’s regarding school lessons. Schools will need to adopt new technologies to continue to effectively ban distracting devices.
