DavHamm wrote:
Alvin Tostig wrote:
I teach high school, juniors and seniors, chemistry and physics.
Our school policy. Students can use their phones before and after school and during their lunch break. Otherwise, they are not to be used.
Part of the problem (as mentioned by others here) is the inconsistent enforcement of the existing policy. Some teachers have given up or they're simply afraid of confrontation, so students blatantly text, surf the internet, play games, listen to music (through their earbuds), etc, during class. Students (and parents) think I'm the bad guy when I take their phones if they're using them during class.
Ok so maybe your school needs to go to a red/yellow/green zones.
How is it a problem if the kid is sitting there texting/surfing/ playing a game, or listening to music. If he is passing the class and not disturbing the people around him, I don't see an issue with it. if he is failing well you can tell his folks its probably cause he is on his phone during class.
Oh and whats the problem with being the bad guy and taking phones if they are violating the policy. I view teachers like parents, we are not there to be their friends.
I don't have a problem being the bad guy. But you do create issues when you have a law or policy that's not universally applied and enforced.
I wouldn't have students playing on their cell phones in my class while I've got other students trying to pick up the material that's being covered. It is a distraction, and I don't have students passing class who are not keeping up with the material on a day by day basis. If the students feel like they don't need to be here, they can go to the gym and a day care provider can watch them.
For the teachers who don't need their students to pay attention so they let them play on their cell phones during class, they need to up their game. Make their class challenging. There's no need to waste a student's time.
For the prodigies who are bored in class, they need to sign up for some challenging classes. (AP anything, third year foreign language, or get outside their comfort zone and take a welding/machine lathe class.)
And everyone (teachers, students, parents) needs to learn how to get along without a cell phone for 45 minutes.
"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.