Banning Phones in Schools? Here’s Why It Backfires [OPINION]

Why Banning Phones Won’t Solve Education’s Biggest Problems

You know, it’s amazing that any child in American history has grown up at all.

Comic books, Elvis, heavy metal, rap, pinball, AOL Instant Messenger, novels; all those things have been the ruination of America’s kids.

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Getty/Thinkstock/Canva[/caption]That's right! We are told that phones are causing the crumbling of America’s public education system.  And these well-intentioned people (I’ll assume) are calling for banning phones in schools.

3 Reasons Why Banning Phones is a Bad Idea

First, has banning anything ever worked? Has it ever helped? From botany to beer, the last 150 years have been a showcase for the futility of prohibition.

The outcome the crusaders want and what will actually happen are two very different things. Every time. This 'evil' is no more a threat than Twisted Sister was, and the unintended consequences will be horrible.

But we turned out alright, didn't we?

Second, this discussion usually leads off with someone saying, "We didn't have 'em when we was kids, and we're alright."

You also didn't have computers, or digital clocks, or smartboards, or ladies wearing pants when you went to school. Should we recreate everything we think we remember from our youth? There was never a golden age; there were no 'good old days.'

Punishing everyone because of a few

Third, in school, nothing eroded my respect for a teacher or admin quicker than being punished because someone else got in trouble.

My kids can handle their phones. They have good phone manners. Are they exempt from this punishment? Just because someone can't manage a classroom or a problem student, it gives you no right to try to deny my child access to me and information.

And it is a punishment. When something is taken away, it is a punishment.

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Go ahead, ban phones in school, I dare ya.

You think the learning day gets derailed by phones now? Wait until the teacher’s ENTIRE job becomes policing phones. All day, every day. It’s all they will be doing. It will consume everything. As bans so often do.

No more schoolwork. No more cramming for those precious tests. Just treating every student like a criminal.

If phones are banned, that means for YOUR kids too, ya know.

I think people forget that the policies will affect everyone, including them and their kids.

Phones would be banned every day, for everyone. Banned when it’s snowing, banned during tornado season, and banned when a student doesn’t feel well or is having a family crisis.

Banned for athletes, too, even on game days. Even if they are the best team in the state. Banned for the star students as well as those struggling, and banned, no matter your last name or family income.

Will they be banned from after-school activities? On buses? On band trips? In locker rooms? Will teachers have their phones? The office staff? The janitor? Would I have to surrender my phone if I came to talk to a teacher? What will the school do with people’s personal property?

This is another core problem with prohibition; it is impossible to consistently and fairly enforce it. That leads to enforcement that favors those in positions of privilege.

The entire school day will be about phone enforcement. There'll be more useless assemblies to tell the kids how ungrateful they are, more threats of searches and theft, and more student VS adult resentment.

The kids in school today were all born this century. They have lived their entire lives with mobile devices. And these kids’ parents have never been disconnected from their kids like it was in the 80s.

Do you actually think that parents today would be willing to give up that connection to their children? I won't.

The phone is my property, and I want my kids to have it with them, always. And don’t you dare take it. My phone is as important in my everyday carry as my wallet. I don’t go anywhere without my phone, and I raise my kids that way.

Plus, KIDS ARE LOOKING AT SCREENS ALL DAY AT SCHOOL ANYWAY! They use computers. All day, every day. And that’s a good thing. Our world is online, and students need to use and be familiar with the tools of today.

And if you think ingenious American students are not going to find ways to stay connected to each other and get online, you’re fooling yourself.

Phones are tools; students need the basics of realistic phone etiquette reinforced at school. Not be forced into a fantasy world built by people who organized this Luddite exercise on their phones.

Getty/Thinkstock/Canva[/caption]I believe that these movements to ban phones come from some parents' embarrassment at their own phone addictions. The people I see hypnotized by their devices are always adults.

There is no phone crisis with America’s youth. There are several very serious problems with our educational system. Real issues we need to focus on. Teaching techniques that need to evolve. Is memorizing facts and testing even useful in a world where everyone has instant access to almost all information? Media literacy and critical thinking are far more important than trying to pretend it's 1993 again.

Playing around with the 'evil' phone is a distraction from raising the next generation of Americans.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ben Kuhns is just some guy on the internet. He is a wannabe writer whose wife thinks he is funny. He writes for Results-Townsquare Media in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of Results Townsquare Media, its staff, contributors, affiliates, or advertisers.