Letters to the Editor: School cellphone bans should apply to teachers too
To the editor: Let’s face it — while it’s a good idea to ban cellphone use by students at school, the teachers, administrators and staff need to be held accountable too. Many teachers in classrooms look at their phones, so students naturally assume they can too. (“Yes, more schools should ban student cellphones,” editorial, Aug. 19)
Enforcing the ban needs to be taken seriously, because if there is no enforcement, there is no rule.
In my day, if a student needed to use the phone while at school, all they had to do was walk to any office in the administration building and ask an employee if they could make a call, which was usually to their parent. It worked very well, so if ain’t broke, why fix it?
And if the parent needs to contact their child, they can call the school and have the child notified without any disruption to the classroom caused by a cellphone.
Liz Brown, West Hills
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To the editor: As the grandfather of a high school student, I’m keenly aware of the positive role cellphones play in modern education.
The teacher often assigns homework by displaying the problems on a screen, which my grandson photographs with his phone. If I’m interested in the subject matter, he sometimes sends me a copy.
In breaks during the day he can do his homework, photograph the result, and turn it in to the teacher by uploading it to the school website from his phone. Homework sometimes entails interacting with educational tools on the web, done with his phone.
If I’m curious about his class physics project, he can send me a video of the catapult launching the water balloon.
Adeptly using a smartphone is an increasingly important skill in today’s workforce. Do we really want to discourage the development of that skill in school?
I’m sure phones in school can be a nuisance. I’m confident that school administrators can find a solution without throwing out the baby with the bath water. That’s why they’re paid the big bucks.
Brian Masson, Harbor City
