Education
Cell phone use to be off limits for students at several Fall River Public Schools
In a move that is causing both praise and pushback, some Fall River Public Schools will have a no cell phone use policy for students with exceptions.
According to FRC Media, the policy was passed unanimously by the School Committee on Monday.
As students would come through the door in the morning, they would place their cell phone, watches, and ear buds in a magnetic bag. There would be medical pouches for students who need to access their phone for medical reasons.
Parents who want to get in contact with their children can call the main office of the school. Parents Square can also be used.
The policy will take effect a few weeks into the upcoming school year at Durfee, Talbot, Morton, and Kuss, and grades six through eight at the Henry Lord and John Doran schools.
Kuss Middle School already had a policy where all electronic devices must be off and placed in the student’s locker for the duration of the school day with the exception of their VILS
school-issued Chromebook.
While officials understand that there will be pushback, it is believed that addition to the factor of less distraction, it will improve safety for students with less bullying.
Fed Up
August 13, 2024 at 6:35 pm
Good. Long overdue
Jeff
August 13, 2024 at 7:27 pm
Not RPS or Stone School ???
Suzzy
August 14, 2024 at 9:45 am
RPA already have to turn their stuff in as soon as they walk in
Jess
August 14, 2024 at 11:34 am
no we do not i go to rpa and students might turn there we brought vapes and weed and phones in rpa and they dont care they act like they care
Dummy
August 21, 2024 at 12:24 pm
Way to snitch on ya self
Travis Bickle
August 13, 2024 at 8:38 pm
But not other “well to do schools”
Oh the learning curve is a harsh reality
Coogans fall river
Rags
August 14, 2024 at 5:30 am
Way, way overdue.
William Kitchen
August 14, 2024 at 5:45 am
As a former instructor in Fall River, I knew cell phones would become an issue from the days of the flip phones. Social interaction was most important than learning with the phones. Cheating another issue with phones too. As for contacting your child just call the office.
Good luck!
August 14, 2024 at 6:25 am
Helicopter parents will not like it. They need to hear from their kids like every half an hour these days!
Linda Bruce
August 14, 2024 at 9:05 am
The way the world is today there are pros and cons to this entire situation and I’m on the fence about it because I need to know if my grandsons are safe God forbid a child has a gun like another student did then how are the parents gonna know if their child is safe or not it’s gonna be very difficult to contact the main office because they barely answer the phone now.This is gonna create a lot of parents showing up at schools to find their child and could possibly cause chaos I remember how I felt when my kids were at durfee and there was a bomb threat and they didn’t have cellphones back then and I seen it on the news before I was contacted it was one of the worst days of my life not knowing if my kids were safe because I couldn’t get anywhere near durfee high school and that is very frightening for all involved so again I have mixed emotions about this whole situation and hope they can come up with a safety plan for everyone mostly the children’s safety this is a tough one.
not happy
August 14, 2024 at 11:31 am
thats not fair i go to herny lord and even tho this is a policy most herny lord students will not follow it and through out the years ive been there students have been getting really sneak on where they hide there phones to the point where getting searched you cant even find it
not happy
August 14, 2024 at 11:32 am
And what about rpa??
Travis Bickle
August 14, 2024 at 7:11 pm
Lur-ning curve
Nicole
August 15, 2024 at 8:38 pm
As an educator myself, I believe this policy should also apply to adults in these schools. Staff do need to communicate with each other, but there are other means of communication such as the internal email system and the internal phone system. There are also intercoms at these schools and admin have pagers. As educators, we should be leading by example. The days of ‘Children should be seen and not heard’ are long gone. Respect is a two way thing and we need to be demonstrating that these rules have a purpose and are not just there to impose a hierarchical system of ‘us and them’.
Derek
August 16, 2024 at 6:09 am
All of this worked pre-cell phones. If people are afraid of shooters, have one in the teachers desk or one that only allows 911 calls (a disabled garbage phone still has 911 service by law). No one NEEDS to have their phones. There are laptops/chromebooks/tablets, etc.. in every school. All the tech you need to LEARN is already there.
Being terminally online is not good for anyone’s mental state.