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Writer's pictureJoanne Jacobs

Worried parents may push back on 'phone-free schools'

The phone-free schools movement is spreading: South Carolina just became the latest state to restrict cellphones in school. Students will have to keep communications devices off and in their backpacks or lockers during the school day.


Mourners in Winder, Georgia. Credit: NPR

But the deadly shooting at George's Apalachee High School could fuel "parental pushback to restrictive cellphone policies in K-12 schools," write Elizabeth Heubeck and Lauraine Langreo in Education Week. A text thread between a student and his mother "publicized the very primal and often private fears harbored by countless parents."


Parents' number one reason for wanting their children to have phones in school is to stay in touch in case of an emergency, reports the National Parents Union. “Cell phone bans fail to take into consideration the tragic, real-life scenarios that unfortunately play out all too often in schools," said Keri Rodrigues, President of the group. “Before policymakers think they’re solving a problem by banning phones in school, they should talk to actual parents to understand the reasons why the line of communication during the school day is so important.”


School shootings are very rare -- but not as rare as they used to be. Education Week reports 205 school shootings that resulted in injuries or deaths since 2018.


The Apalachee shooter, who killed two teachers and two students and wounded nine others, surrendered to a school resource officer, an armed sheriff's deputy who ran to the scene after being alerted by teachers with newly issued "panic buttons." I suspect the movement to get police offers out of schools will slow down too.


Safety experts say students should be paying attention to adults' directions -- not texting parents -- during an emergency. It's also a problem when hundreds of terrified parent show up at a school in mid-crisis.


At Dothan Preparatory Academy, a public 7-8 grade school in Alabama, persuaded parents that the cellphone ban -- phones go into lockboxes at the start of the day -- wouldn't endanger their children. “We don’t need 1,100 kids texting and calling people, and they’re up here getting in the way of first responders,” said Charles Longshore, the assistant principal. But he worries parents will abandon their support for the policy in the wake of the Georgia shooting.

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5 Comments


Miller Smith
Miller Smith
Sep 09

In order to stop drunk drivng deaths, ban sober drivers from owning cars.


Here are the numbers:

Motor Vehicle Accident Deaths:

  • In 2021, approximately 42,915 people died in motor vehicle accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

  • This was a significant increase from previous years, reflecting a rise in risky driving behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gun-Related Deaths:

  • In 2021, gun-related deaths were approximately 48,830, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    • 54% of these were suicides, accounting for around 26,328 deaths.

    • 43% were homicides, with around 20,958 deaths.


Banning cars based on the numbers alone is as justified as banning guns.


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superdestroyer
Sep 09
Replying to

Everyone driving a vehicle is suppose to have a government issued license. Every vehicle is supposed to be covered by insurance. A 14 y/o cannot legally drive a vehicle in the U.S.

The comparison of guns and cars is not as strong as one is trying to make it. In addition, the U.S. has worked hard to reduce traffic deaths and injuries from seat belts to air bags, collision avoidance systems and crash testing.

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Miller Smith
Miller Smith
Sep 09

In order to reduce drunk driving deaths it is absolutely necessary that all sober drivers be forbidden from driving a car.


That is how your version of gun control works.


This is yet another in a long list of shooters who the FBI and local authorities already knew of the kid. This "knowledge' keeps happening over and over.


Oh, ban assault spoons. Assault spoons are why I am fat.

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Bruce Smith
Bruce Smith
Sep 08

States need to ban assault rifles (as they were during the Clinton administration), as well as control bullets (as in Japan), if they want to prevent these tragedies, in keeping with good regulation (in spite of the idiotic opinion of Justice Thomas); all of the other methods proposed or taken in Winder did not prevent these four deaths and nine injuries, and school cellphone policy should be determined by each school's board, which should consider their usefulness after earthquakes and tornadoes, in which cases they have saved lives.

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