Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: BYOD Our school has a BYOD (Bring your own device) rule. This allows the students to utilize their own form of technology during class. Due to the fact that 99% of the teachers are okay with this rule and allow the students to play on their cell phones once their classwork is completed, my kids are constantly checking their phones for messages from the students in other classrooms. I am in 8th grade, would it be a good idea for me to set up a station on the back wall where the students have to place their phones until it is approved by me for them to use them? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) From my experience, collecting all phones is a bad idea. First of all, it does punish kids who are not causing a problem or not allowing their phones to distract them. Second, this poses a major liability issue and many schools are starting to forbid the collection of phones. My school forbids teachers from doing it and the district discourages it in general. If a phone goes missing, the parents will blame the teacher and will want either the teacher or school to replace the missing phone. Having a centralized location for phone storage also invites thievery. In my district, there is a strict penalty for theft of items worth over $200, plus the school would have to involve the authorities. I have had it happen to me where I collected a phone from a kid who was using it to cheat, then it was stolen while I turned my head to answer a question (literally less than 10 seconds). The parents demanded I replace their son's brand new $800 iPhone. Thankfully I did not have to, but the school decided to eat the cost of the new phone to appease the parents. The moral of the story is that there are many ways to ensure that kids stay off their phones. The first and most important thing is student engagement. Students who are kept busy, interested in the course, and engaged will not have time to pull out their phones. Second, students need to know up front (the first day of school) what your policy is and they need to know you will follow through with a consequence for breaking your rule. I give a warning, then on the second offense, I call home. After doing that once or twice, the word spreads among the students. That is how I have handled phones and they have not been a problem. All I can say is that if you choose to collect phones, be extremely cautious!