It was the slaughter of Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert that brought readers together earlier this month. Now, our letter writers are once again united, but this time in praise: With hardly any exceptions, they write in approval of the Los Angeles Unified School District's ban on cell phone use during the school day. Many of the letters come from teachers tired of competing with screens for their students' attention. This topic has come up before on the letters page, often in discussions about the challenges teachers face in the classroom.
As a father of three school-aged children (two of whom are in high school), I share concerns about smartphone addiction and have so far resisted my children's incessant requests to have their own iPhones.
I wish I could say that my concern is based on all the new data and commentary about the toxicity of smartphones to adolescent brains, but that's not the case. I'm actually amazed at how a little over a decade of smartphone use (read: addiction) has changed. my habits and shortened my capacity of attention. Why wouldn't I protect my children from that?
My children without phones are outliers. Everyone around them has their own phone, so much so that, in my experience, previous rules against cell phone use at school have long since become unenforceable. Now, with the LAUSD ban, the pendulum is swinging in the other direction.
To the editor: I just finished my 29th year teaching high school English and would be thrilled if my school district took action to ban cell phones, like LAUSD is trying to do.
Phones and AirPods are a constant nuisance. Although my class policy is that both must be put away during class, I have to remind students to do so every day. Some refuse to take off their only AirPod because they say they can hear me fine with it on.
I remember the days when I couldn't get students to stop talking and shut up at the beginning of class. Now they walk into the classroom wearing AirPods, looking at their phones, and rarely talk to each other. When I try to interact with them, they don't respond because they are busy watching videos or browsing social media. If I finish class a couple minutes early, they immediately take out their phones and it's so quiet you can hear a pin drop.
Many students are not interested in talking to each other and this extends to our lessons too. They have a hard time communicating in small groups and even more so in whole-class discussions. It's because they're used to isolating themselves with their phones and AirPods (or big headphones) and don't know how to interact with others.
It's good that LAUSD recognizes the need to ban cell phones.
Jaime Angell, Torrance
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To the editor: I retired from teaching chemistry and physics at San Pedro High School two years ago. I experienced how smartphones undermined my students' attention.
Starting in 2004, I had a sturdy four-drawer toolbox in my classroom with different colored poker chips in each drawer. When students entered class, they placed their phone in a drawer and received a chip as a claim check. Then I closed the box with a padlock and there were no phones during the entire class. I also made a big show about locking my own phone.
Students often told me in confidence that this was the only time all day when they weren't looking at their phones.
I wholeheartedly support banning phones in high schools. Would parents accept a ban? Probably no more than 50% of them.
Would teachers be willing to lock up their own phones during the school day? Highly unlikely.
John Reid, San Pedro
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To the editor: As a long-time teacher, I agree that restricting cell phones in schools is a healthy move, as was argued at the recent LAUSD Board of Education meeting. However, it makes more sense to restrict its use only during instructional time.
In all the years of experiencing shootings and other violence on campus, it makes sense to have those phones stored somewhere in every classroom for use in case of emergency. In May 2022, a fourth-grade girl in Uvalde, Texas, was able to call 911 from under her desk.
Yes, phones distract from learning and listening. But having them available for emergency use is a good idea. Parents may also be advised not to call or text their children during school hours.
Cheryl Ortega, Los Angeles
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To the editor: I don't think banning student cell phone use during school hours is going to be the panacea district officials hope for.
There is nothing stopping parents from giving their elementary school-aged children a smartphone with unlimited access to a variety of age-inappropriate social media platforms. And, until social media companies are no longer allowed to shield themselves from liability through federal law, they will continue to sell their toxic products to our young people, with or without a ban on cell phones in schools.
We go after Big Tobacco for the damage their products caused to the health of our citizens; This is no different.
Jason Y. Calizar, Torrance
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To the editor: I think that, ultimately, a complete ban on cell phones in schools is probably a good thing. I know how bad it makes me feel to scroll through social media and I don't see the need for students to be able to communicate with anyone in the world at any time during the school day.
However, I couldn't help but laugh at school board president Jackie Goldberg's story about a group of high school students who broke out their phones to text each other as soon as she sat down with them. Goldberg strangely assumed that the teenagers were so addicted to their phones that they no longer spoke out loud.
Anyone who started using a mobile phone before the age of 20 (and I think most people who have ever used one, and also most people who have ever met a teenager) would immediately recognize what was probably going on. happening: students were texting each other. another about the adult who appeared out of nowhere hoping to “talk casually.”
Katelyn Best, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Let us not forget that our actions as adults are examples for young people. Many parents may agree that children are addicted to their phones, but so are many adults.
How is the typical student supposed to feel about a phone ban when we know that adults on campus will still walk the hallways checking social media, texting food porn, and subjecting their families to endless chains? of text messages? Don't forget about the adult TikTok crowd.
Excessive cell phone use is an adult addiction that can hinder communication and family engagement. Many adults are as addicted to phones as their children.
Chris Damore, Fullerton
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To the editor: I think it's a great idea to limit cell phone use at school. However, I also believe that its execution would be an administrative nightmare.
I suggest that political leaders get together with Silicon Valley engineers and have them develop a way to disable phones when students are in the classroom. Students would have to register their phones with school administrators, who could enable and disable them accordingly.
Mobile phones have become an integral part of our lives and we have to develop smarter ways of using them.
June Thompson, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Mobile phones don't belong in schools, learning does. Our young people are turning into zombies and only react to the blood of social networks to move forward.
Susan Greenberg, Los Angeles
