I may have an unpopular opinion here but I support the cell phone ban, at least, in theory. I don’t agree with how the Saskatchewan Government announced the ban in the middle of the summer without proper engagement with teachers, administrators, students or parents and I do believe that it was a political move rather than a true effort to improve education in our province. That being said, as an Elementary teacher, I see definite benefits for the students in Elementary schools.
In the past decade, more and more students are coming to school disregulated, unable to focus, and not ready to learn. The unfortunate reality is that too many students are spending a huge amount of their free time on screens and it is affecting their sleep, their emotional regulation skills and their interpersonal skills. Removing cell phones during the school day is far from the solution for all these issues, but it is a small step we can take to help students learn how to focus on others, be present and communicate effectively.
As a personal example, my son is currently dating a girl who has difficulty communicating in person. When she has an issue with him, he doesn’t know about it until after the date, when she texts him about it. She says she has anxiety, and although that may be true, my concern is that she has not learned the interpersonal skills of face to face communication through her teenage years.
As younger and younger children get consumed by texting, SnapChat, WhatsApp and other digital forms of communication, I believe they are desperately in need of a safe place to practice face to face communication. This is where the cell phone ban in schools is starting to be effective. When students are not tethered to their phone, they are forced to interact in more meaningful ways with others. I have noticed that there seem to be more disagreements and conflicts between students but I choose to look at that as a learning opportunity! As teachers, we are seeing more of the conflict that, just last year, would have happened on phones and we would never be aware of. Disagreements and conflicts mean that communication is happening and these are invaluable opportunities for teaching social skills to children.
There are definitely downsides to a full cell phone ban as we talked extensively about in class and I think that, over time, we will need to find a compromise which allows teachers to use cell phones as the tools they are meant to be. For now, let’s focus on how a cell phone ban can be a positive experience – the chance to teach emotional and physical regulation and the opportunity for students to learn valuable communication skills.
Here are a few of the videos I watched this week:
The Case Against Cell Phone Bans in School
Hi Carol
I love your candid view on the cell phone ban. For elementary school, I will actually support a cell phone ban over and over again. I agree with you that too much screen time for young children is affecting their “sleep, emotional regulation skills, and interpersonal skills.” I can say that of my 9-year-old son, who finds it difficult to emotionally care for his younger brother whenever he’s busy with the phone. I think teachers at the elementary level just need to focus more on building the communication and interaction abilities of these young children, as you’ve rightly indicated. They need to be children and act like one without the bottleneck of technology hindering their social abilities.