by Nicole Bradford
In Pearland ISD and countless other districts, cell phone use in classrooms is often troublesome, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
“You can’t take them away altogether, but notifications — they’re so detrimental,” PISD Trustee Toni Carter said during a school board discussion on June 11. “Let’s ask the kids.”
In Pearland ISD, a student ambassador group of about 70 teens provides feedback and recommendations to administrators.
“We have tried different things,” Superintendent Larry Berger said, recalling cases where phones were collected at the beginning of class or individual classroom policies stating that phones that are seen will be taken up. “We can definitely take it back to the Student Ambassador group and campus principals.”
Cellphone use by students has drawn various reactions from school districts, including a total ban in some.
“I get the feeling there’s probably a bunch of people who feel like the phone culture is a detriment to the school environment and it’s such a tricky thing to navigate,” Pearland ISD Trustee Kris Schoeffler said. “HISD had a high school that banned them outright, and the kids walked out.”
Trustee Crystal Carbone went a step further and said disruptions from cellphone notifications are something both kids and adults struggle with, suggesting more feedback from students and educators is needed before any action is taken.
“I would be interested in having some kind of discussion that Dr. Berger can take to the student ambassadors (and) principal meetings,” she said.
Currently, Pearland ISD does allow phone use if it is not disruptive.
“Many of our campuses — if we don’t see it during instruction, we don’t take it,” Berger said. “It’s when they begin a distraction to learning, that’s when it becomes a discipline concern at a majority of our campuses.”
