Banning cell phones in school is not a good idea.

Yesterday during lunch, I was able to make it to my school’s Faculty Council meeting, which is, from what I can tell, a place for teachers to discuss school leadership issues. My favorite. (Not sarcasm.)

On the table was a suggestion that we adopt a school-wide policy regarding cell phone use during class. More to the point, the suggestion was that we adopt a policy prohibiting cell phone use during class.

Frankly, it’s not a good idea. Not nuanced enough. Not nearly enough.

One major problem with banning cell phone use is enforcement. Often, the instinct is to confiscate the phone — for the hour, for the day, for the week — sometimes after a warning, sometimes without warning (when the policy is considered warning enough.)

One teacher shared that his strict prohibition and confiscation policy works really well, that he usually has to do it once or twice a semester in each class, but that kids just get that it’s not okay to be on your phone in his room. Another shared that she has the same policy, but she hasn’t had the same success with it. About eight years ago, I realized that as a white woman, I wasn’t able to pull off some of the same authoritative classroom management moves as my white male mentor. When he gets firm and/or loud, students are intimidated into submission. When I do, I sound shrill. Not sure that gender is what made the difference in implementation for these two colleagues, but I do wonder.