by James A. Bacon
The Charlottesville public school system has banned the students’ use of cell phones. Superintendent Royal Gurley decries students’ “addiction” to the mobile devices, and teachers have complained that the phones have become a tremendous disruption in the classroom, reports The Daily Progress. The restrictions, school officials hope, will “increase connectivity between classmates and teachers improve mental well-being.”
Predictably, some parents are pushing back.
“It’s too extreme,” M.J. Smith, whose son is a senior at Charlottesville High School, told The Daily Progress. “I think it’s in the right place, but it comes across as heavy-handed and not well thought out in light of the active anxiety that the community is facing with another school year and active shooter robocalls. We’re all worried about that.”
I’ve got some questions for parents opposed to the ban.
Do you have the faintest idea of how disruptive the cell phones are? Do you know how much rampant cell phone use is disrupting your kid’s education?
What is more important: soothing your temporary anxiety about your kid’s safety in the improbable event of an active-shooting event, or creating an environment where your kid can learn?
Bacon’s Rebellion wrote more than a year ago about how students were continually distracted by their phones. Instead of focusing on classroom instruction, many students texted one another, surfed the Web, watched videos, and listened to music. One by one, schools and even school systems have been restricting cell phone usage — Fairfax County, Alexandria, Hopewell, and Virginia Beach, among others.
Many pundits have blamed the slide in Standards of Learning (SOL) scores on COVID-related lockdowns. The shift to remote learning undoubtedly played a significant role in the collapse in learning, but the story was bigger than that. Scores continued to slide even when kids returned to school. Amidst the backdrop of eroding authority and physical altercations, adults in some schools found themselves unable to maintain basic standards of behavior. Disorder spread. At many schools, students routinely used their cell phones during class.
The ban on cell phones represents a necessary step to restoring a healthy learning environment. Charlottesville school officials deserve kudos for finally recognizing the obvious and forging ahead in the face of the inevitable controversy.
Students will be required to put their phones in magnetically sealed pouches. The pouches, provided by Yondr, can be opened only at released stations at the school exits at the end of the day.
It would be interesting to compare educational outcomes of school systems that banned cell phones with systems that have not yet taken the step. One key measure, the Standards of Learning (SOL) test scores, should be available any day. In past years, the SOLs have been announced by this time. For whatever reason, the Youngkin administration has not yet made the scores public.
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