“Mr. Telephone Man, there’s something wrong with my line…”

New Edition, “Mr. Telephone Man,” 1984

Late last Monday night, while watching what I erroneously assumed would be a nice, event-free meeting of the Warren County Board of Education courtesy of YouTube, I was greeted with the news that eventually graced the front of Wednesday’s edition of the Standard.

The Board unanimously passed the “Prohibition of Possession and Use of Personal Electronic Devices,” banning all students from having phones, smart watches or any other devices turned on or in use between the opening and closing bells of any school day.

The decision wasn’t reached lightly, coming after several months of research by members of the Board. And it’s a decision that – in this writer’s opinion (look at the top of the page, you’ll see this is filled with writers’ opinions) – was the right call to make. 

Personally, I know a lot of school teachers. And I haven’t met one – not ONE – who thinks this is a bad idea. Class periods are short and already filled with enough distractions. Having kids further distracted by electronics just adds to the struggle when you’re trying to teach a 180-day curriculum.

Looking at online comments after we posted a tease to the story on social media, I saw mixed reactions from the community. Some readers felt the new policy is going to be impossible to enforce, others felt it’s unnecessary, and some even say it’s a violation of children’s rights.

If we’re being honest, though, this policy in one form or another has been on the books as long as kids have had access to devices. But often it was either not enforced or, at best, just enforced sporadically. Specific punishments weren’t in place. But now they are, and they were outlined in the paper last week.

So the question I hear most often is, why now? Why make an across-the-board ban, when before it was seemingly acceptable for teachers or principals to enforce as much or as little of this type of policy as they saw fit?

Because, as your granny probably used to say, one bad apple spoils the bunch. For every kid who has their phone handy in case they need to call mom, or text dad, or keep track of their calendar, there are several others who use them to cheat on tests, or take inappropriate photos of classmates which are then sent to thousands of other phones, or send hate-filled messages to bully other children. Like I said, I know a lot of teachers, and I’ve heard these stories over and over again. 

It has to stop. So kudos to the Board of Education for setting a policy that will hopefully make that happen. And if you, as a parent, have a problem with that policy, bring it up when you come to the school to pick up your kid’s phone.

Standard News Editor Rob Nunley can be contacted at rnunley@southernstandard.com