Post by minx on Aug 28, 2023 12:52:25 GMT -5
School district in Chesapeake (I think) wants to ban use of cell phones for all students during the school day.
They are going to invest in Farraday pouches, and when students come in at the start of the day, they will be given a pouch to put their phone in, and the corresponding key to unlock the pouch.
All the pouches will be kept in a secure location, and at the end of the day, students will come back, unlock their pouch and get their phone back.
Seems sensible, right? Kids will have their phone to use to call parents or others after school as needed, and won't be distracted by them during the day.
Slow you roll there! PARENTS are objecting by the ton - they need to be able to reach their little darlings during the day. One even said that she needs to be able to call or text her kid between classes to make sure his day is going okay.
And of course there's the 'Gotta call my kid if there's a lockdown, or worse to make sure they're not hurt!'
So, I get the wanting to make sure your kid is okay if there's an active shooter. Totally get it.
OTOH, what the hell is calling going to do except make YOU feel better? And if the kid is in a classroom where the shooter is, do you want to alert the shooter to your kid's location by calling right then??
I know that I would tap dance on your head if your call hurt MY kid in any way, shape or form for sure.
And as Uvalde and Parkland showed us, having your phone to call 911 doesn't do shit to protect you.
Not discounting the risk of a school shooting at all, but the odds of it happening are still pretty low. And study after study says we should ALL put the phone down more than we are.
My kids were in HS when smartphones were first coming out. But lots of kids had the old-fashioned text only phones. Youngest said that the worst offenders from texting were kids who were texting with their parents during class. And 90% of the time, the parents initiated the conversation "How's your day going Johnny? Hope your math test went well - tell me all about it!" In the middle of the school day during a class. More than one of her classmates told her that it was easier to answer during class - they didn't want to waste their free time talking to their mom.
So yeah, no phones. No exceptions unless you need it for medical purposes (certain glucose monitors now use apps to alert the user that their blood sugars are out of their normal range - I have no problem with a kid having a phone for that, as long as it's clearly visible on their desk screen down).
They are going to invest in Farraday pouches, and when students come in at the start of the day, they will be given a pouch to put their phone in, and the corresponding key to unlock the pouch.
All the pouches will be kept in a secure location, and at the end of the day, students will come back, unlock their pouch and get their phone back.
Seems sensible, right? Kids will have their phone to use to call parents or others after school as needed, and won't be distracted by them during the day.
Slow you roll there! PARENTS are objecting by the ton - they need to be able to reach their little darlings during the day. One even said that she needs to be able to call or text her kid between classes to make sure his day is going okay.
And of course there's the 'Gotta call my kid if there's a lockdown, or worse to make sure they're not hurt!'
So, I get the wanting to make sure your kid is okay if there's an active shooter. Totally get it.
OTOH, what the hell is calling going to do except make YOU feel better? And if the kid is in a classroom where the shooter is, do you want to alert the shooter to your kid's location by calling right then??
I know that I would tap dance on your head if your call hurt MY kid in any way, shape or form for sure.
And as Uvalde and Parkland showed us, having your phone to call 911 doesn't do shit to protect you.
Not discounting the risk of a school shooting at all, but the odds of it happening are still pretty low. And study after study says we should ALL put the phone down more than we are.
My kids were in HS when smartphones were first coming out. But lots of kids had the old-fashioned text only phones. Youngest said that the worst offenders from texting were kids who were texting with their parents during class. And 90% of the time, the parents initiated the conversation "How's your day going Johnny? Hope your math test went well - tell me all about it!" In the middle of the school day during a class. More than one of her classmates told her that it was easier to answer during class - they didn't want to waste their free time talking to their mom.
So yeah, no phones. No exceptions unless you need it for medical purposes (certain glucose monitors now use apps to alert the user that their blood sugars are out of their normal range - I have no problem with a kid having a phone for that, as long as it's clearly visible on their desk screen down).