I was a high school senior in 2003-2004, and my dad gave me a phone to use that year, and I think most of my classmates had one too, but I don't actually remember there being any problem or policy about it. I assume that's because phones were just phones at the time, and who were you going to call during class? I don't think I even sent or received a text message until a couple years later.
By 2011, when my wife started teaching in a public high school, it was the wild west with phones. The school policy gave her the authority to take them away during class, but then she was responsible for documenting and safekeeping them, so she didn't bother despite the constant distraction as kids openly looked at them during class.
The capabilities and market penetration grew so fast that I think most schools were just caught off guard, trying in vein to implement rules after the phones were already in every kid's hand.
I'm not defending the use of cell phones in class. But there have to be more effective ways to reduce their use among students rather than simply banning them.
Arguably those have all been tried, and don't work.
I think it's not hard to imagine why algebra may be less captivating than a constant short-form-video dopamine stream for an adolecent.
that’s about 1,200 more than parents worry about anything else
Some examples that have been on these lists in the past:
- A school resource officers firearm that accidentally went off when a child hugged around his waist. No injuries (there are other questions, but doesn't qualify in the same way)
- An empty .22 casing found in a random school parking lot, probably fell out of a car or got caught in a boot or similar.
- A gang fight at 1am on a Saturday near to school property.
- My personal favorite: The two schools closest to me that showed up on one of the lists (Everytown, I believe?) because the police were dealing with an active robbery situation about 1/2 mi away and they asked the schools to go into lockdown. Apparently "lockdown" immediately and only ever means schools shooting.
- 2/3rd of school shootings that NPR couldn't verify happened.[1] [1] https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/08/27/640323347/the-sch...
While I get your point, I think when you have to be concerned about how 'school shooting' is defined your country has a big problem.
The mass violence shootings that you hear about on TV where anyone and everyone might be a victim are the exception, not the norm.
Yes, I want to know these things happen.
No, they are not such an emergency that my kid needs to be taking time from class to text me about it.
Most schools in areas with lots of crime or gang activity have metal detectors and other security at the doors. Violence is happening off hours, or between gang members either off campus (but close enough to warrant bringing people inside) or at the edges.
In a country with hundreds of millions of people, a thousand over four years is not exactly a rounding error given that it is concentrated in a few areas, but still close enough that the vast majority will never experience it in their lives.
Back in my day, all electronics had to stay in your locker except your calculator, including pagers, personal organizers and for the very few kids who were wealthy enough to have one, phones as well. This would be about the time that Motorola and Nokia were selling giant bricks that they called phones.
Edit: and no, school shootings had nothing to do with the change. We'd gone through Columbine not long before, and despite the media spamming everyone they're very rare even today.