Triad teachers struggle with students bringing phones to class
(WGHP) — There are teachers in the prime of their careers having to deal with things they never imagined when they signed up for the profession.
Chief among them is dealing with students bringing cell phones into class.
'I do think their attention is pulled, which makes it hard to just be present, whether that's socially in lunch or in the classroom,' High Point Central Veteran Psychology Teacher Kayla Ranew said. 'We have tried to move to a phones-out, sight-unseen, and I have noticed a difference this year. I've been a little more strict about making the kids have them off their desk … I think they've been a little more with me.'
Ranew says the best way to deal with the situation is to be honest.
'I think I just try to treat them like people … I'm really big on trying to tell the kids this is why we're doing what we're doing, and there's a reason behind it,' Ranew said.
The research on this issue is not encouraging. Ninety percent of schools report that bullying or harassment through phones happens. More than half say it happens regularly.
Guilford County Schools says they're aware of it all.
'We have talked a lot about cellphones,' GCS Superintendent Whitney Oakley said. 'It's real. It's also something that parents have different feelings about … When I talk to other parents, they want their … their kid to have their phone so they can check in during the day.'
Oakley isn't endorsing a one-size-fits-all approach. She's working with principals to see what they believe works at their school.
'We have added some mental health supports and tried to strengthen health, wellness and safety …. Paying attention to what the research says but also making sure we're engaging the community around when to have them, when to have them off, when to have them on, what's appropriate. We also don't live in a vacuum … Students have access outside of school to social media and technology, so it's a balance,' Oakley said.
It may be most difficult at middle schools where emotions are high and maturity sometimes lags.
'We've seen a rise over social media about how kids get hostile about their phones. You see how they're ready to fight teachers and cuss and all sorts of things about their cellphones, so that does raise a concern if I say, 'Hey. Put your phone on my desk,' and I turn it into the office,' said Northern Guilford Middle School Science Teacher Leondra Richardson, who has had to deal with a student who wouldn't take no for an answer when he demanded his phone back.
See more on the subject in this episode in our series Saved By the Bell in The Buckley Report.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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