As much as I miss working at the school, I am glad I got out before this became prevalent.

We had hell trying to keep them off of their phones before 'smart phones' were a thing.

I'm a substitute teacher in a public school in New Jersey.

From 5th to 8th grade, every other kid, if not more, has a Smart Phone in class.

Teachers cannot compete for their attention. If it isn't a text, then it's a video.

And it's not quiet. The kids are yelling, whooping it up, etc., making it damned near impossible to teach the kids who aren't the Smart Phones.

How bad is it? These kids even go the bathroom with their phones, not to return for 20+ minutes.

It's like a drug.

Most of the schools have a "no phone" in class policy that is pretty rigidly enforced.
Many have a hanger (like the old shoe sheet people had in the closet) where phones are placed as they enter the room.
2 actually invested in Yondr pouches that magnetically locks the phone until the end of the day.
I've seen abuses, but nothing like you are describing.

I sub in several districts, so it's different at different schools, but even the most lax is nothing like what you are dealing with.

parent-teacher school councils must unequivocally establish a policy on phones IN school, and then ban their use in all classrooms. All teachers and principals must enforce these enforceable policies.

As for the nation's children and teens, schools do forced capacity building through new content and process knowledge.
Phones don't just distract. Phones are a literal harm to the learning climate of schools.

Kids need to develop the discipline required for prolonged study and concentration. That's a skill that they need ehlp developing.

While technology is not solely to blame, its adoption and prevalence correlate to serious declines in our nation's student performance on international tests. Keeping technology out of classrooms for younger students means they can focus on learning to read fluently and the basics of mathematics they will need for higher math. We do not need more religions schools charter schools, we need to invest in our public schools and the people who lead and teach in them. We also need to fet politicians out of determining curriculum and right-wing parents out of teachers' faces. As a lifelong educator, the decline in our public schools just depresses me.

They’re on their phone when they should be doing the task the teacher assigned

And in grade school I notice a difference in classes where the teachers use computers less and the students are nicer and do their work. I love being in the class where the computers are locked in the cabinet while I’m there.

Last edited Tue Mar 10, 2026, 01:48 PM - Edit history (1)

look at the world. Why waste time trying to teach in the old way, before computers? We may have to find new ways to teach everything from Shakespeare's plays to paintings of the old masters. I have had the wonderful experience of introducing my "computer guy" to the painter Matisse; the artist's use of strong color fascinated the guy (the painting was "Madame Matisse in a hat) and if you google it you can instantly see why! That experience taught me that younger folks can, indeed, "see" art and see it perhaps in ways we didn't expect from them.

At beginning of class and if caught with one after that sent to office.