Oh, ffs.

[conuly]

Don't text your kid at school for no damn reason, folks!

If you want that much daily contact with your child - homeschool!

But on another note, every time I see an article about schools having trouble enforcing no-phone policies I keep thinking this: every teen shoplifter knows you can make a simple faraday cage for your tagged goods by lining a bag with aluminum foil. Then you can smuggle your whatever-it-is past the door and not get stopped with a beep. This same principle is why cell service inside elevators sucks - those things are made of metal and it blocks everything.

So, on that note, it should not be impossible to retrofit your school from top to bottom to make cell service too shitty to be worthwhile... and so long as you're using passive methods then it's all legal! (This may also be an option if you're a teacher in a single classroom and expected to decorate. Who says you can't decorate with metal? Line your classroom with cookie tins, guys! Who doesn't want a shiny classroom that, coincidentally, has the worst cell and wifi service in the state?)

Edit: I just googled, and faraday paints and wallpaper are things you can buy. As always, I believe functional engineering solutions are superior than behavioral ones. If you make it so that kids can't text in class then you will no longer have to spend energy trying to stop them from doing it. So, while this might actually not be feasible for a teacher, any school which is really irritated by this should consider trying to find the funding to redo their paint. In my experience, all schools are badly overdue for a paint job anyway. Shove a metal grid over the windows and you will be good to go.

Comments

[conuly]

That makes much more sense than what you said, lol!

But even giving it back to the end of the day, that means having some sort of system to keep track of whose phone is whose, and putting the onus on keeping the phone safe from theft and damage on the school rather than the students. Plus you get a cluster of kids at the end of the school day - or, worse, in a school with staggered schedules, at the end of each of the last few periods of the day - trying to get their phones. I remember what a nuisance it was for teachers to sign kids' dailies at the end of each period! And what if the teacher leaves before the students, or the student grabs the bus and forgets to get their phone first....

[cellio]

I was imagining something like: phone goes into manilla envelope with student's name, box of envelopes goes to the principal's office for the day, collection becomes part of the dismissal process. But that last step requires staffing, yes. As for it being a chokepoint -- well, you only get caught in it if you tried to use your phone during class, so there's an obvious way to avoid that. :-)

I favor the faraday cage if it works, sure. Windows will be hard. Someone will probably find a way to hack around it. Belt and suspenders.

[conuly]

well, you only get caught in it if you tried to use your phone during class, so there's an obvious way to avoid that.

Don't get caught? Carry around lots of bribe money? Throw a tantrum?