In general, we’re supportive of plans emanating from the state level – in some cases already implemented and in others on the way at the local level – to restrict public-school students’ use of electronic devices during the day.
It’s a policy that seems well overdue, given the weight of empirical evidence that has piled up. So better late than never.
But . . . there has been a positive side effect to students’ having their phones at the ready in classrooms in recent years. They have been able to record the misbehavior of educators and share it with the world.
These misadventures may be physical or verbal confrontations, or could be truly outrageous “lessons” being delivered to a compliant classroom. (One does not have to be a rabid conspiracy theorist to worry about that.)
Most teachers are total pros, going about their day and doing their job in a responsible manner. But some of those who aren’t have been caught red-handed through students’ using phones to document situations. And other educators, perhaps, have thought twice about any untoward activity, given that it all could end up online.
An end to phone accessibility, while a net benefit to students’ education, may in fact reduce accountability guardrails. But it seems like a side effect we’ll have to live with.
