By John H. Palmer
Every generation of schoolchildren has their share of distractions.
In the ’60s it was the Beatles. In the ’70s, Vietnam. Growing up in the ’80s, we concentrated on hair, Atari video games, baubles, and MTV. The ’90s saw the Tamagotchi digital pet, and in the 2000s, the iPod made it so every kid had a jukebox in their pocket.
Today, the smartphone has become a fifth appendage for most kids in school, so much so that it is one of the largest detriments to education and socializing man has ever known. Except, perhaps, for the mullet. Which I toooootally didn’t have in 1991.
Palmer graduating Norwalk High School without his mullet in 1991.
Bad fashion trends aside, it’s frightening to me how quickly technology is taking over the brains of our children, not only with the distraction itself of the cellphone, but also with what you find on it. Social media has become their playground and marketplace where they socialize, play games, buy things they don’t need, and bully each other without ever having to interact face-to-face.
Coming way too soon down the pike is advanced artificial intelligence, or AI, which has the power to do their homework for them, and distort reality in such ways where we may no longer be able to trust the troves of available information and the messages that we receive.
Teachers and parents are the front lines of this battle, and unless they help control the access their kids have to these technologies, they will ultimately lose the fight.
Why add more distractions in the classroom?
As I watch Westport haggle over the future of a bell-to-bell cell phone ban at Staples High School, I wonder what future our parents and administrators have in mind for schoolchildren today. Children today are going through a technological age that far eclipses anything we’ve ever seen.
School Superintendent Thomas Scarice is coming under fire from parents who are opposing his proposal for a total ban of cellphones at the high school, something he has been studying for over a year, including spending some time at Wilton High School, where a similar ban is in effect.
The Staples PTA executive board last week wrote a 3-page letter opposing the ban and signed by 15 members of the board. They had planned to read the letter to the school board during the April 3 school board meeting, which was canceled abruptly.
It should be noted that I was a school teacher in Westport, Norwalk, Fairfield, New Milford and Trumbull for 10 years during the 2000-2010 timeframe. I’ve worked with students of many ages, levels and grades, and I’ve seen many of the distractions in the classroom and how it affects instruction and attention spans.
Cellphones in school erode classroom management
Before you brand me as a technophobe, let me say that I’ve seen, utilized, and championed the wonderful technologies that have helped improve education. When I was in Trumbull, the teachers would fight over who got to use the only interactive Smartboard in the school for their lessons. Today, they are in virtually every classroom.
That said, unhindered access to personal technology in the classroom is a no-no to me, hard stop. I don’t believe children of any age need to be constantly glued to a cellphone for any reason. I’d like to take the points that the Staples PTA are making in opposition to the ban and explain why.
Hindering instruction. The letter, among other things, expresses concern about the unintended consequences of a smartphone ban such as hindering instruction that relies on the use of personal technology and kids turning to computers during class time “to do personal business,” which creates a bigger problem for teachers.
Since when is school a time for a teenager to take care of “personal business?” I’ve been in several classrooms where students have been allowed to get on the computer unsupervised and basically do whatever they want. Classroom management exists for a reason, and at least in theory, the teacher is in charge of making whatever rules he or she deems necessary to keep control. Unfortunately, I’ve also watched parents’ demands supersede this hierarchy and it’s frustrating. Teachers are losing control of the classroom because of a lack of respect and parental oversight, and that’s where we lose the kids.
Wayfinding and communications. Do our kids need phones to find their friends at lunchtime? The parents argue that children need phones to locate their friends when they get out of class.
Whales find their buddies using sonar. I’m pretty sure finding your friends as a human is as easy as walking to the cafeteria and using what we’ve used since creation: those two eyes in front of your head. Most kids hang out in groups in the same spots every day in high school, anyway; it’s not hard to know where your buddies will be.
As for communicating with parents? I grew up at a time that still dictated that when you went to school, that’s where you were. If Mom needed to get in touch right away, she called the office and pulled you out of class. You didn’t want that call — it meant something bad happened or you were in big trouble somehow. I certainly didn’t have Mom texting me in school to ask what I want for dinner.
Today, parents use the smartphone as a way to communicate the most unimportant and distracting details to their kids. In Trumbull, parents would email me in the middle of the day asking me to tell their kids who they had a play date with later that day. That is not a teacher’s job, and parents don’t seem to understand that.
Security. This, I submit, is a valid concern. What happened in Newtown and in countless other places in the country is not lost on me. It can be argued that a kid with a phone can — and has — helped locate and stop an active shooter situation and get help where it’s needed quicker. Still, perimeter security measures and school protocols have improved, and schools are arguably safer than they’ve ever been.
This is why I like the idea of the Yondr bags in classrooms (not in separate lockers in another location) where students place them while they are in class. They are away from their person while they are learning, but within reach if they are needed.
A ban on phones in the high school needs to be reasonable
Lastly, I’ll offer my understanding here that because of the nature of a teenager’s modern life, some use of a cellphone is necessary. Many hold jobs, and it can be reasonably argued that they may need to get in touch with their bosses if something comes up. Some teachers allow — and even require — use of cellphones as part of their instruction. Nothing says the teachers can’t give the cellphones back when the kids need them for a lesson.
Like it or not, smartphones are a part of a teenager’s life, and they aren’t going away. For that reason, I support a partial rather than a total ban on cellphones in the high school. Parents need to meet administrators in the middle on this, and come up with a policy that balances the needs of the children, while also preserving the integrity of classroom instruction.
Unless we as a society, however, place restrictions on the technological distractions in the classroom and bring back the teacher’s discretion when it comes to the cellphone’s presence in their instruction, the device will take over as the educator and make it more difficult to teach children what they need to know in 12 very short instructional years.
John Palmer is editor of the Westport Journal, and a former K-12 teacher in Fairfield County schools. He has covered community news in Fairfield County and Massachusetts for over 30 years. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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