A response to Illinois governor’s proposed cell phone ban in schools

After nearly 30 years from the time when cell phones became something that most people (and many students) carried everywhere, it was interesting to see the local News-Gazette article about Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed ban on them in Illinois schools. There are pros and cons for the ban, and for having them available in schools.

Some schools may have had bans, and teachers have undoubtedly banned them in their classes. I know I banned their use in the classroom while I was still teaching at Urbana High School. At the time, I was probably considered rather strict about the classroom atmosphere, even before cell phones came along. It was my classroom, and I established the way we spent the 50 minutes of class each day. I assume teachers across the state did the same. For years, I always established that on the first day of class by seating students alphabetically because it made taking the roll go quickly each day.

Other aspects of my classroom atmosphere were common sense issues: Raise your hand to make a comment during a discussion; don’t interrupt another student who is commenting; don’t work on assignments from another class; don’t use inappropriate or foul language; don’t write notes to each other or anything else that is unnecessary and not related to class discussion or work; and respect the comments of other students, even if you disagree with them.

I also asked that all students remove their hats during class. That was probably a result of the rules in the Marine Corps that covers (hats) are not worn inside unless the wearer is in uniform and armed. Of course, no student should be armed. And I still think that it is appropriate that hats are removed in the classroom and at the dinner table — I don’t even think it’s appropriate to wear a hat in the Oval Office of the White House. In all my years in the classroom, I only had one student refuse to remove his hat. When I was telling the class my rules the first day, he got up, walked out and went to the counselor to register for another class.

Meals at school are served in the cafeteria, so eating in class was also something I had on the not-to-do list. Along with that was no drinking soda or water. For a long time, I had allowed students to have bottled water. Then a student came to class one day and seemed a bit unsteady as he went to his seat and kept sipping at his water bottle. I finally asked him for the bottle and found it was vodka that he’d been drinking. After that, I said no drinking in class.

When I made that change, a student said, “But teachers in other classes drink coffee during class.”

“But I don’t, do I?” I asked. “The rules apply to me, too.”

Then came the cell phones. I was pleased to see that Urbana High School rules about them are essentially the same as when I taught there: “Cellphone use may vary by classroom,” the article in the News-Gazette reported. “Each instructor must share their (sic) policy with students and parents during the first week of school. Phones and ‘music devices’ can be used during lunch and passing periods, provided they do not create a threat to safety or ‘a disruption to the learning environment.’”

That sounds reasonable. I required that phones be turned off during class except for the journalism class when the student paper, The Echo, was being readied for publication, and then only to contact sources for information.

In all the time I didn’t allow cell phone use, I only recall one violation. And that was me. In one of my morning classes, my cellphone — which I did keep turned on — rang and interrupted a class discussion. It was the editor of a magazine for whom I was on deadline for an article, and he was waiting for my copy that I was going to finish in my free period.

Together, the class listened to me talk to the editor, and when I hung up, several students spoke at once, “I thought we weren’t supposed to use cell phones in class or have any calls during class.”

Of course, they were right. And I think the governor is correct to be imposing some kind of ban on cell phones in schools. But in the world in which we currently live, I also think it’s necessary that everybody have access to cell phones to use in an emergency.