thoughts on new SPS phone ban?

I work in a school district (not SPS specifically Edmonds), and I’m not entirely against it though i think it’s good to be limiting phone use during the school day. Especially if it genuinely getting in the way of the student learning. Though it’s not an issue in my school… I honestly think the reason why students are not engaged isn’t really because of phones, there’s other issues at play… (but that’s a whole other story)😅

That said, I do have some concerns I haven’t seen talked about as much. With the reality of emergencies in schools, I can’t imagine a situation where students have zero access to their phones. I know schools have safety protocols, but from a staff perspective, communication can get chaotic fast in a real emergency. I think there’s a difference between “not using phones during class” and “phones being completely inaccessible.”

Some schools have been using those magnetic pouch systems where students keep their phones on them but can’t access them unless a staff member unlocks it. That seems like a more balanced approach to me.

Also curious—what happened to the old model where if a student had their phone out, it just got taken for the day? I grew up in the Midwest and that alone was enough to stop most of us from using them during class. Does that not work anymore? Also, so I work at k-8 school right now, I have substituted at a few high schools in Edmonds, and the “phone issue” isn’t really prominent in the sense of inappropriate things happening or safety issues, or even them taking it out during class!! I’d be interested in seeing ALL the driving forces as to why they don’t want the phones (besides the obvious reasons)

Would love to hear how people (especially parents, students, and SPS staff) are feeling about this, unfortunately I think Seattle (and other districts) do not always have the best interest of the student and families in play, and like to just put band-aids over things instead of fixing bigger issues. But what would I know, I’m just a teacher!!

EDIT: i’d like to say that I’m not against students not having their phone in school, in fact I do think that students should not have their phones out in class… I guess I’m just more wondering for SPS, why the just “no phones in school” ban doesn’t work, as it works for my district (for the most part) And is it really necessary to have phones locked up in a pouch AND then locked into another locker. I’m not against the youndr pouches that the students get to keep on their person though!