I'm a high school teacher in Florida. Cell Phones are -illegal- for students to have on campus during school hours. Do I see students use them in the halls, or when they come out of the bathroom, or during lunch? Absolutely. Do I also see a HUGE decrease in phone usage during class compared to a few years ago? Also, yes. Overall, the new law (went into effect to start this current school year) has been an overwhelmingly positive step for our school.
Social Media is *potentially* dangerous for everyone. If passing laws can make our people and society safer and happier? Pass the law. Does that mean we'd have more laws? Yeah it does.
It is interesting to me that a fairly large portion of our society and our elected officials spent a good number of years trying to eliminate regulation and oversight and attempting to "get the government out of my life!" but are now, sort of changing their tune a little bit.
There has to be a balance. You can't strip away every regulation and oversight without there being some intended bad consequences. Additionally, you can't legislate every problem away, either.
I will say, it is absolutely astonishing to me that many people are so willing and eager to "outlaw" social media apps because they give kids anxiety or spread misinformation. But the thing that contributed to the deaths of more children from the ages of 1 to 17 in 2020 and 2021 - shall not be infringed. Maybe if Smith & Wesson started manufacturing in China, we'd see some movement on that front.
Thank you. How do they practically handle this?
Are they allowed to be on their person, just not out? Or not even be carried?
Do kds put their phone in a locker when they get to school?
What is the penalty if they don't stick to the rule?
It is tough. A new iphone can be $1,500+. As a teacher, confiscating that device from a student is a slippery slope for a number of reasons. For example, a parent could say that *I* 'stole' the phone from the kid. They are worth enough money that it isn't -that- crazy for a parent to get upset about an expensive phone to no longer be in the possession of the student or other family member. Another problem is that if your student is involved in an after school activity, their cell phone can be a safety tool. They may need it to call their parent or guardian for a ride home from practice or performance. So, if I take a phone from a kid for sending a tweet during class, I may have now just really screwed up the entire day for a whole family.
So, as this was a new law, we have sort of seen an "evolution" of how we deal with the phone issue.
Step 1: "Don't bring your phone to school, it is now illegal. There is zero tolerance." At the same time, teachers were instructed to -not- take phones from students. Why? Well, the powers that be, genuinely thought that students would follow the law. That phones would likely no longer be a major problem anymore, and so because the belief was that phones would essentially "dissapear" from campus - We were told to call the Dean's Office and have them come to our classroom to take the phone of any student that was violating the policy. Of course, this is a problem, because the deans have a lot of things to do, and it feels like a huge distraction / inconvenince to "escalate" the situation to stopping class, getting on the phone, calling the office, asking for a Dean, waiting for them to arrive, the student then deciding whether or not to comply with the Dean and give up the phone.......and on and on.
So, after we realized that the law wouldn't stop many (any) student from bringing the phone to campus (and to be honest, I truly believe it is essentially a safety tool / necessity for a lot of kids - even if it is just after school) we moved to Step 2.
Step 2: Be militant about having non-teacher staff members confiscate phones when they see them. We started giving the deans drawstring bags (some used fishing nets) and during passing periods, lunch etc, they would stand near entrances & exits and take phones. It did not take long for this to become effective.
As Step 2 began gaining traction, students began "policing" themselves. I saw fewer phones in the halls and in-class I saw zero phone usage.
Step 3: As with any school rule, as the school year goes on, the teachers, deans, admin etc. get a little more "loose" with policing the rules. I see more phones during passing period. I see phones when kids are coming out of the bathroom (the bathroom is now just a place to check your phone and/or vape), but overall - compared to past years - cell phone use on campus is WAY WAY down and in terms of it distracting kids during class time, is an absolutely night & day difference - in a good way. I truly believe that if you could get the students in an honest moment, that they would actually agree that not having their phones out during class is a positive for themselves and their peers.
A school rule we had imposed a few years ago, is that all students must put their backpacks into a designated area when they come into the classroom, so the aisles are clear. I use this to my advantage in terms of policing phones. My classroom rule, is that if you ask to use the bathroom, you go over to your backpack, show me that your phone is in your bag, and then sign-out to use the hall pass. We can do this with literally no extra words being exchanged and it takes maybe an additionaly 10 seconds for the kid to show me that their phone wasn't at their desk. Do all students put their phone in their bag? No. But, typically the kids that want to use the bathroom pass all the time, are the exact kids that would be distracted by their cell phone at their desk. It is extremely rare for me to see a phone out during class time anymore. It's been a huge positive for me and the staff.
Step 4: I think we are sort of "evolving" (devolving?) into this step now. Where, while the staff isn't as militant about taking phones, the staff and the student body have figured out a "happy medium" of where phones are and are not acceptable. In-class? No. Checking it as you walk to your bus? Fine.
As far as punishments for phone use go:
1st time: Confiscated, student can get the phone back at the end of the day
2nd time: Confiscated, parent must come to the school to get the phone
3rd time: Confiscated. Parent has to come get the phone. 1 day of in-school suspension.
4th time and on: Out of school suspension. Meeting with parents.
From what I've heard through the grapevine - the repeat offenders are actually being told by their parents to essentially ignore the rule, and to just do whatever they want.
