We must give our children the opportunity to find their way in this world and to trust the people we have brought into their lives.
When should you give your child a phone?
Parents of tweens and teens are likely asked the same question: Can I have my own phone? Before you say YES or NO, there are a few things to consider.
USA TODAY
When I first heard about the parent-led movement to ban smartphones and smartwatches in Jefferson County Public Schools, I recoiled. But that emotional reaction was about me. My fear. I’ve since changed my mind.
Ten years ago, a student was shot at Fern Creek High School. My daughter was a freshman at the time. It happened between classes. She was close enough to hear the gunshots and to be trampled by students running and screaming. After she was locked in a classroom, she texted me.
This scene comes to mind when I think of a smartphone ban – an emergency situation where all I want to hear from is my child. In fact, shortly after I heard from my daughter, I received a text from the school. Did it replace the opportunity to comfort my child, allay my fears, and tell her I love her? Of course not.
Later that year, on the way home from school, she missed her bus stop. She took a TARC bus home and got off on Fourth Street downtown about three miles from home. In my day, I would have had to find a pay phone to call my dad at work to pick me up. But my daughter texted me, found a restaurant where I could wait, and I headed out.
Technology has evolved and society has evolved with it. Is it practical? Yes. Is it always best for our children? Not necessarily.
Smartphones can harm our children
Smartphones are packed with addictive apps that have one purpose: to make money by capturing and keeping your child’s attention. Our kids are lured into using these apps for all sorts of reasons during the school day. Whether it’s chatting with a friend when they should be studying, texting a parent because they forgot something, bullying a classmate on social media, recording privacy-violating videos, or using platforms like Snapchat to organize bathroom fights and share drugs.
Telling kids to leave their devices in their lockers or turn them off in their backpacks isn’t enough. There are constant power struggles over cell phone use in the classroom, and smartphones are becoming all too addictive.
I gave up teaching because of the phones: Smartphones in schools hinder students’ learning.
Cell phones don’t belong in the classroom, but some students need them before and after school for good reasons. Where is the middle ground?
Buy your child a simple phone.
A simple phone that does two things: make calls and text. Gaming and social media are left to your devices at home. A smartphone is a handset with 1,400 different ways to distract you from the life right in front of you – be it at school, at work, or at dinner with the family. It’s not good for anyone, let alone the learning environment. Put the smartphones away.
JCPS reviews cell phone policies for students
JCPS will revisit its cell phone policy next year when the student handbook is revised. If the school district continues to allow smartphones and smartwatches, it must also include an enforceable policy stating that smartphones can be confiscated if used during the school day.
If the school district bans smartphones, regular phones should also be allowed, but with the same restriction: if used during the school day, they will be confiscated.
We have to let our children navigate this world and trust the people we have brought into their lives. When the shooting happened at Fern Creek High School, my daughter was safe in a classroom with her teacher. Was it scary? Yes. But ultimately, that text communication was about me. It comforted me.
I have a son in third grade who doesn’t have a smartphone or any other phone. I entrust his care to Hawthorne Elementary every day. I see no reason why that should change as he moves through the middle and high school system. If he ever needs a phone, he’ll probably get a basic phone.
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp is community engagement and opinion editor for the Louisville Courier Journal. You can reach her by email at [email protected].
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