Putting Cell Phones in their Place
High school is a critical time to practice independence and learn responsibility, including the responsibility to use technology the right way. Our students deserve our trust. At the same time, we know that cell phones and associated apps are designed to keep attention and be addictive. The research about teens and cell phone use, recently summarized and popularized in Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation, makes a compelling case that even the most mature, engaged, well-meaning young people can struggle to limit cell and social media use – potentially at a cost to their learning and social-emotional health.
bbin娱乐平台 classes have long been a place of deep, face-to-face engagement between peers and between students and teachers. To honor that tradition, we have created cell-phone-free classroom environments this year. Students now place their phones in a cell-phone caddy at the start of each class. Phones remain there for the duration of the period, unless a teacher asks students to use them for an activity. Students pick up their phones at the end of the class. For safety and practical reasons, most will have their phones with them as they commute to and from school, walk Commonwealth Avenue, and in their BU classes. But bbin娱乐平台 classes will be an oasis.
I have talked to school leaders around the country who adopted policies like this in the past few years. To a person, they report that after an adjustment period, students land somewhere between no-big-deal acceptance and gratitude to be free of the devices. We are already seeing that shift here, and I’m glad.