School shootings raise new concerns about cell phone bans

Recent school incidents, particularly the Georgia school shooting this month, are raising new concerns about cell phone bans.

In the wake of the shooting at Apalachee High and the numerous bomb threats in Springfield, Ohio, advocates say lawmakers and school officials need to keep parents’ fears in mind as they consider cell phone restrictions in classrooms, which have been increasing in states across the country.

“Unfortunately, in this country we love our guns more than our children, and we have not yet been able to solve the problem of the regular murder of dozens of children in classrooms,” said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Association.

“Until we figure this out, parents and families will have no problem with foregoing direct communication with their children in the classroom,” Rodrigues added.

California is the latest state, following several others and numerous individual school districts, to pass a law restricting cell phone use in public school classrooms.

Policies ranged from completely confiscating cell phones throughout the day to bans specifically during class time.

“I don’t think any teacher in the country would disagree with how distracting the phone would be in the classroom,” said Stephanie Humphrey, author of “Don’t Let Your Digital Footprint Kick You in the Butt!”

“So distraction is a big deal, but it also has an impact on students’ mental health. […] There is the cyberbullying aspect of these students using these devices in unintended ways and causing harm to other students. So there’s just a long list of reasons why cell phones in the classroom are just not a good idea,” she added.

While advocates emphasize the social and academic benefits of keeping phones out of students’ hands, a lack of trust remains between parents and school systems as shootings and other threats against K-12 classrooms make headlines.

The Georgia shooting, which left two students and two teachers dead and nine others injured, highlighted the problem.

“School shooting… I’m scared,” an Apalachee High School student wrote to his mother, according to ABC News. “Please, I’m not kidding.”

In another text exchange viewed by the outlet, a mother of two girls at school tried to coordinate with her daughters, at one point telling them to “Stay down and stay hidden.”

“Mommy, I’m scared,” one of the girls said, to which the response, sent over six separate messages, read: “Keep texting me / I want you to keep texting me / Girls / Are you okay / Keep texting me only me / I love you.”

Later that month, students in Springfield were taken out of school for a few days due to bomb threats after false accusations that Haitian migrants were eating pets in the area. And recently, students and parents in Texas and Washington, D.C. have been confronted with fake school shootings that have been investigated by police.

Issac Soto, a parent in California, says he found a solution for his own child by giving him a smartwatch that only allows the student to call him, his mother or grandparents, but in some school districts even that is not allowed.

“Banning smartphones, I completely understand that, but I mean some form of communication, even saying that if you can have a phone, you can only have a stupid phone.” Have an old phone like we used to had flip phones that can no longer do anything […] but, you know, just having something that they communicate,” Soto said.

And emergencies aren’t the only concern: Many students with disabilities use technology to support their learning

Denise Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, said that some schools and states currently do not have a waiver in these policies for students with disabilities and that those that do, such as California and Virginia, have not found a solution yet.

“The pressure seems to be on parents to make sure the IEP is guaranteed [Individual Education Plan] has the accommodation documented. Suddenly these bans are put in place and who is going to review the student’s program to make sure it is properly documented and the student is not suspended for using a device? . So that’s certainly a concern,” Marshall said.

“Virginia has what they call the ‘Bell-to-Bell Ban,’ and that’s true – while it mentions students with disabilities, it also actively discourages teams from opting for assistive technology,” she added. “So it means that young people are encouraged to try other options. You know, that takes us back. We have seen for many years that students have been denied access to assistive technology that could help them learn.”

However, some argue that phones can be a distraction for students in such emergency situations as they become more focused on connecting with loved ones than listening to important instructions.

“We have children ourselves, and as parents we understand the desire to stay in touch with our children in emergencies. However, it is important to recognize that the phone actually threatens their safety,” said Mileva Repasky, co-founder of the Phone-Free Schools Movement.

“If a child is distracted by their phone, they may miss important safety instructions from a teacher or emergency responder. It’s important that he maintains his situational awareness during this crisis, and being fully focused on the instructions being given really helps.” “Improve the chances of this child’s safety,” she added.

But others say that in school shootings like Uvalde, cell phone use has proven beneficial to the situation.

“I have not heard of a single case where a cell phone has actually exacerbated or caused any of these situations,” Rodrigues said. “However, I can give you the most obvious examples, including Parkland and Uvalde, where parents who are able to contact children save lives, where children who are able to contact first responders, Saving lives.”

Those who oppose banning cellphones in schools say there are other ways to make phones less distracting than eliminating them as a means of communication entirely.

“There are so-called cell phone management software systems like Aura that we all use at home that regulate, for example, how our children use cell phones and whether they can connect to WiFi or not. We can even specifically restrict which apps can be used at what time,” said Rodrigues.

“We have a knee-jerk reaction to a set of data that is frankly alarming when you look at it, but we are conflating two issues: cell phones and social media are two different things,” she said.

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