why I never take away a kid's phone

Join Teachers.Net

Chatboards

Recent Groups

Substitute Teachers

MEMBERS

8 Members

+ Join Group

Pinned Posts

ALLAll Teachers

Teachers.Net LIVE CHAT Support group - Tues eve!

Featured Jobs

Full-timeMontessori Teacher

Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

TemporaryTeachers, rural schools

Peace River North School District

Full-timeHead Teacher: 2nd/3rd Grades – Mills College Children’s School

Mills College

Teaching Jobs on Teachers.Net

Featured Job special only $39!

https://teachers.net/jobs

Become a Teachers.Net sponsor!

Substitute Teachers Chatboard

why I never take away a kid's phone

by pixie

Jan 28, 2015

I tell them to put it away, and they keep playing with it, I leave their names for the teacher. If there is a video being shown, and the phone is the only thing keeping the kid quiet, I say nothing.

[link removed]

Comment

(4)

report post

Ze Povinho On 1/28/15, pixie wrote: > I tell them to put it away, and they keep playing with > it, I leave their names for the teacher. If there is a > video being shown, and the phone is the only thing > keeping the kid quiet, I say nothing. > > [link removed]

In the district I used to be, I was required to take away phones-it was ...See MoreOn 1/28/15, pixie wrote: > I tell them to put it away, and they keep playing with > it, I leave their names for the teacher. If there is a > video being shown, and the phone is the only thing > keeping the kid quiet, I say nothing. > > [link removed]

In the district I used to be, I was required to take away phones-it was the era before the powerful smartphones we have today...you know, at the time when the phones with folding keyboards were the most advanced things one could have.

In my employment with that district, I took away about 100 phones over 15 years. Needless to say, I became a hated sub because I dared to follow the school and district policy. But I was not physically assaulted. But I was given the full verbal treatment by them. Their obsession with texting was immense, and that mattered more to them than doing any work.

Now, at the district I currently work, the ban on smartphones is dead letter. Almost all teens in high school have smartphones, and teachers encourage their use by having students perform class research during class. But we know what many students prefer to do: texting ad nauseum, watching music or NFL or NBA videos, and so on-anything but educational sites.

But I have noted that their obsession has skyrocketed since, say, 2008. Now many can't function without these devices, and get very anxious when they are not using them. You tell them to put these away, and they comply for just a few minutes before the device is out again. Taking it away does not work-you would have the entire class rebelling because almost everyone uses these devices nonstop and it's impossible to control the use anymore.

In middle school, phones are forbidden and are promptly taken away. So far, there have been no issues of hostile behavior when confiscating phones. Where I am, I have been lucky. Many students do respond well when asked to put away their phones. As for me, I simply ask them to put these away if they are not allowed. I don't confiscate. I don't worry about the phone being lost or damaged and then me being blamed for it.

Ze

Jan 28, 2015

report post

pixie Ze, You accurately described the situation that we are dealing with. I can only add two particulary obnoxious uses of phones that are impossible to ignore: using the phone surreptitiously as a remote to disrupt DVD player, projector, laptop, etc., and using the phone to activate a small "blue tooth" speaker that has been cleverly hidden i...See More

Jan 28, 2015

report post

Math Teach I've had kids dial up my classroom number repeatedly. I would answer the phone, and surprise! No one was on the other end of the phone.

1/28/15, pixie wrote: > Ze, You accurately described the situation that we are > dealing with. I can only add two particulary obnoxious uses > of phones that are impossible to ignore: using the p...See More

Jan 29, 2015

report post