Student Cell Phones
Dear Editor: Recently, I noticed a caption on a picture in your paper that said Blatchley Middle School is requiring students to check their phones in when they enter school! I swear, I almost got up and did a “happy dance” right then and there! But I thought maybe I had read it wrong and actually called the school and they confirmed it.
Then I found out on Raven Radio that some middle schools in other areas are doing the same thing. Being an “old” teacher, I can remember when middle school students came into the commons before school started, they talked, joked around and enjoyed each other’s company. When cell phones were allowed in, students started sitting in groups all punching buttons on their phones. It grew and grew until the majority of the tables were full of cell phone punchers. I have heard from many teachers and adults worrying about what effect this is going to have on these kids in the future?
When my daughters started middle school, we noticed right away that academics ramped up with every assignment showing up on the grade sheet and students being held accountable for their performance. This increased in seventh grade and then ramped up again in eighth grade and all through high school until graduation. Cell phones are a huge distraction inside the middle school building. Students cheat, bully, and create huge discipline problems with them. When cell phones have been examined, parents of “trusted” students have been shocked at the inappropriate content they contain! Further, cell phones have been around long enough for research statistics to emerge on their use with middle school students. It is not a pretty picture. They have linked a rise in depression, withdrawal, and suicide to cell phone use.
Here’s some of the research coming out:
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/11/577101803/a-schools-way-to-fight-phones-in-class-lock-em-up;
https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/22/opinions/smartphones-middle-school-opinion-ruston/index.html;
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/05/smartphones-ruining-mental-health-teens.html;
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/nurturing-resilience/201801/teens-and-dangerous-levels-cell-phone-use;
https://nypost.com/2017/11/14/rise-in-teen-suicide-connected-to-social-media-popularity-study/.
The Psychology Today and New York Post articles listed above are probably the best ones to check out if you are short on time. Just off the press is an article about how much screen time the famous creators of the technology are allowing their children. Here it is: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/style/phones-children-silicon-valley.html?fbclid=IwAR0msXubNvdnj838KeheU5_ihODVOhcGWScA3-OSGILRcGYuYZWnUcgfxu4
I want to say a big THANK YOU TO THE TEACHERS AND STAFF AT BLATHCHLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL! Your commitment to the education and emotional growth of our Sitka students is very much appreciated by my family and many others. Keep up the good work.
Patty Dick, Sitka
