Ban cellphones from classrooms

Senate rejected SF 21 “Ban on cell phone use in schools.” We do hope that more parents than not and teachers alike are upset with this decision as it continues to take away from the task at hand – learning.

We see younger and younger children with cellphones and their own social media platforms. The phone alone creates a huge distraction, but now that the internet has a constant presence, students seem to be struggling even more.

It’s understandable that we now must equip our children with phones. This allows us to reach them during any time of the day, use apps to track them and text during times that phone calls aren’t acceptable. However, the classroom is an exception.

Students are present in the classroom for one reason only – to learn. That involves all forms of learning – reading, arithmetic, public speaking, etc. How can we expect children to learn at full capacity when they’re distracted by the device in their hands? Parents, it starts with us.

As parents we need to teach our children that the school day is their teachers’ time. This is not an open social hour. While our children learn to adapt to different social settings during school hours, they still need to understand that the main reason they’re there is to learn. We cannot put full confidence into a group of young individuals who pay more attention to their phones than lessons that will prepare them for their lives ahead.

Yes, SF 21 was rejected, but let this be a lesson to us as parents that we need to have the conversations with our children and hold them accountable for not only being respectful of the teachers and their time, but also to allow themselves to fully engage in the lessons taught to them.