National Public Radio published this interesting story about how a school is using locking pouches to keep kids from sitting on their phones during class. As someone who used to use socks as a makeshift pouch for students who couldn’t handle the responsibility of using a phone appropriately during class, I was amused.

Cell phone use in class is an issue I really worry about. There is solid research that shows cell phones in a class decrease learning and achievement, and it seems like that body of evidence only grows as time goes by. At the same time, cell phones have become a much bigger issue each year than they have been in the past. Our human relationship with these little devices that have practically become an appendage to many people is pretty weird.

First of all, there is a sizable group of people for whom cell phone use is a serious addiction. Kids literally can’t put them away for any length of time, and some become aggressive when it’s even hinted that it may be confiscated (as per school policy). For others, there is so much anxiety from being away from their phones because if their friends text and they don’t respond immediately, their friend gets angry with them. On top of that, when asked who they are texting, many times they answer “my mom!” I’ll ask to see, and sure enough, it’s their mom (that, or they just label everyone in their contact list “mom” which is actually pretty hilarious to imagine). Parents say they want their kids to have their phones in class so they can contact their kids at any time.

Then, there is the business model of the apps which make money when people are looking at the screen via ads and other incentives (number of visits, number of active users, etc.). These apps use notifications, numbers that pop up, bells, dings, vibrations, and even flashes of the camera flash to notify the users that they need to give their attention to the app immediately… or they’ll miss something really important! Fear Of Missing Out takes over their brains and they go for their phones.

The apps are making money off of our kids who should be getting an education so they can, in part, make money themselves. They are shortchanging our kids for a quick buck. Gross.

I struggle with this. If I keep asking kids to put away their phones, I go hoarse from repeating myself. If I threaten to take them away or give them to admin, they get aggressive or cranky. If I do finally take them away or have them confiscated, then they shut down and the relationship with the kid is harmed. If I ignore them, they might not learn. And more kids go on their phones, and have you every tried to talk to people who are just looking at their phones? It sucks.

Kids (and adults outside the education field) say “just let them go on their phone – it’s their choice. If they don’t learn and fail, that’s their fault.” But that’s not how teachers are evaluated: we are told that we are specifically responsible for making sure kids learn. If we let them just sit on their phones, then we are failing them.

Also, I think it’s kind of disrespectful to just ignore a kid who is sitting on their phone – mainly because I actually want that kid to engage. Like, it would be disrespectful for me to just ignore them and not invite them into the class activities. However, if I’ve asked and asked, it feels like I am becoming disrespectful of their own choices or agency – I don’t know what’s going on in that kid’s life, but at some point, is it okay to say “ok, you are making this choice at this point. Please know I want you to be involved with our class today”?

I don’t know the answer. But it feels bad to try to teach a bunch of kids who are not giving me any attention, and it feels bad to nag kids to put them away, and it feels bad to take the phones or penalize it. Maybe there is no good answer. Maybe locking them up is a valid choice, even though it seems weird.

I don’t think this is something that can be solved from the top down at this point. There are too many different understandings of what role a cell phone plays in a kid’s life. It probably involves a lot of discussion, including with families and kids to find what is reasonable. Because I’m not the only teacher who is frustrated and they aren’t the only kids who are struggling with respectful technology use.