Hard to not miss the point
I saw an interesting email this week from the principals of a High School nearby. It was about their school's cell phone policy. While this is thankfully not an issue we have to consider nor manage in nursery school, I had to wonder if the principles of education and engagement are the same.
They spoke about how the student's cell phone use is "detracting from their ability to learn and socialise". A generalised frustration of anyone connected with teens. This was not what bothered me. What made me stop and think 'really?' was the proposed way of fixing the problem.
There was a list of cell phone abuses and the consequences each would incur. These varied from confiscating phones for 24 hours to 2 weeks. Said the principals, "Although it is very difficult for our students to imagine their lives without their cell phones, this is one way that we can help them to understand that their cell phones are an impediment to their proper functioning at school. Should a student have their phone confiscated, being without their cell phones for a few days may open their minds to new possibilities and will, no doubt, improve their learning."
I can only imagine the teachers and their frustration and the demands on management to deal with the issue, but I can't help but wonder if their minds will in fact "open to new possibilities" just because they have had their phones confiscated. My teen experience and my own son's response to the mail leads me to believe that a punished teen is angry and disengages to deal with and punish back. None of these bodes well for opening minds or improved learning.
I would like to believe that engaging students in a cell phone usage plan and working out ways and times for appropriate usage and the concerns around it from an adults point of view will be far less dramatic and destructive to the relationships between the adults and teens concerned. No one wants to duck and dive consequences, some thrive on bucking the system but mostly it drains and depletes everyone involved, often without achieving the actual desired effect.
So in my humble opinion, the point is that we want children to use phones/tech with balance, accountability, honesty and integrity. We want them to acquire this skill early and be able to apply it in all areas of their lives. It isn't a skill acquired in adulthood, nor in high school. Its something we can start much younger...we have our work cut out for us here at Mina Lopto Nursery School.
“The aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values”