“When my Los Angeles high school banned cell phones, I brought in a boombox and my CD collection,” writes Joel Snyder, a government and economics teacher in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood of Los Angeles, in a blog from WordPress.com. “It’s changed the classroom dynamic.
“Since returning to the classroom after the COVID school shutdowns, cell phones seem to function as almost an extra limb for my students, an ever-present extension of both their body and mind.
“During lunch break, passing periods, and before and after school, we would find students sitting by themselves, watching a movie or playing a video game. Even more bizarrely, we’d see them sitting together, faces buried in their phone; they were isolated even in communal spaces. It’s clear that teens — and adults, too — are ceding real-life exploration, discovery, and connection to our devices.
“As in many districts and schools across the country, the South Los Angeles public charter high school where I’ve taught for the past 15 years decided last spring that for the 2024-2025 school year, we would be a phone-free school. Our students deserve more: more space to be present in the classroom, more opportunity to engage with each other, and more time away from the screens that we’re all consumed with.
“This year, our school has a new library of books, games, and athletic equipment to encourage students to engage without screens.
“Looking for ways to bring novel experiences to my students, I brought in an old boombox and a hefty book of hundreds of CDs.
“I told my students that they should come in and pop in a CD in the morning before school or at lunch. I’m not sure what I expected. At minimum, I thought they might discover some new old music or get a laugh at my decidedly middle-aged CD collection.
“Since school started a few weeks ago, students have started to file in, asking to play a CD. Some choices are more predictable — The Beatles and Bob Marley, always timeless — and others are less so. What I’ve been most stunned by, though, is that each choice is an entry point to an unexpected conversation. It is a reminder of how life was before the phone in our pocket answered every question and satiated every desire.
“My students, born into the MP3 era, have started bringing CDs from home, along with stories of their parents and cousins and swap meets. And those stories beget stories about what they like to do and who they want to be.
“I’m hoping the CDs continue to be a draw for my students, bringing more of them into the kind of analog dialogue that they — and I and all of us — need more of in the smartphone era. It’s likely to foster new ideas and maybe even find some more new old technology.
“On a recent morning, I brought a copy of the New York Times, a real print paper straight from my front yard. I’m hopeful that the newspaper will be a conversation-starter of its own, filling my classroom with questions, connections, and laughter for good measure.”
WordPress.com
