As a reward for good behavior, on Fridays the kiddos get to go out to lunch. Or, at least they did before Covid shutdowns. But as things are moving towards normal, the school reinstituted the practice.
The permission slips were passed out on Tuesday. The kiddos returned them Wednesday and Thursday. And Friday we were all set to walk the not-quite-a-mile to the In-N-Out.
The kiddos lined up, waiting for their phones...
(Upon entering the school, all students are required to leave their phones. The phones are locked up for the day. They can do this due to the nature of the school and the fact that there are so few students.)
Then the students were told they weren't going to get to have their phones for the journey.
Oh, they were not happy. They were all like, if we can't have our phones, we're not going. They stalked off and sat on the lunch benches in the middle of the school.
Mr. G, the math teacher, and Mrs. E, the principal, both went to talk to the kiddos. Nope, they weren't going to budge.
Fine, then. They could stay in school. Brandon still wanted to go, and he was fine with not having his two (!!) phones. (Anson wanted to go, but he was peer pressured into staying.)
So, Mrs. E and Brandon and I walked to In-N-Out. We had a rather nice lunch.
After school I heard about how the other students who remained started to regret their stance. We'll see if they're more willing to go next Friday.
(And Mrs. E has to look into the phone thing. She wasn't principal the last time they could do this, and legalities and things have to be considered.)
Hmmm. It would seem to me, without knowing the legalities of it, just thinking about it, the students are leaving the grounds and are on their own time, therefore get their phones back. Would students in other situations and circumstances be able to use their phones at lunch? It would be a nicer time out without phones of course! Good for Brandon, having the strength to be the only one, and sticking to it.
ReplyDeleteThey're not on their own time. (Oops, I wasn't clear in the post.) Technically, this is a field trip. As such, it's supervised by school personnel and it's during school hours. On a normal day, they don't get their phones back at lunch time.
DeleteI think they thought you'd give in and allow them to take the phones. I don't think they expected you'd go without them.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they're the sort that are used to people capitulating to their demands. Hence, why they ended up at this school.
DeleteI would think Mrs. E probably should have looked into the legalities before they reinstituted the practice.
ReplyDeleteI can see the students' point. They give up their phones to the school already upon entering. If I wasn't getting it back and had to walk almost a mile to get some middling burgers, I wouldn't have wanted to go either.
ReplyDeleteThat's absolutely hilarious that the people who still wanted to go just left them there.
ReplyDeleteIf they won't budge...
DeleteWe don't have an in and out, although where my oldest son lives, Medford Oregon. They have a in and out.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe
I would hope it wasn't violating any laws. Makes sense that they are on school time and therefore don't have phones. And a great lesson!! I hope they don't get their phones next time.
ReplyDeleteSounds right to me, if no phone allowed during school time, and this time was included into school time...
ReplyDeleteIt's nice that you get to take the kids out for lunch some days! I can see why they would expect their phones, not being on the school grounds, but hopefully you can figure out a situation that works for everyone :)
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a good weekend! Was a busy day yesterday so will be a relaxing one today!
Away From The Blue
The principal made them write out paragraphs as to why they should be allowed to have their phones. Those that wrote the paragraphs (all but one) got their phones for this past Friday's outing.
DeleteInteresting...
ReplyDeleteA reward for good behavior, wonder why they don't do that on jobs? haha....sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteThese are the difficult students, so the idea is to give them incentives to behave.
DeleteThat's great that the school locks up the phones during the school day! But yeah, kind of weird not to get them back to leave campus.
ReplyDeleteThen again, what do I know, we didn't have them in my day!
It's a gray area. I can see both sides.
DeleteThat is good idea that children don't have phones with them on class but they need to left them when they cam in school.
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Phones in class... There are times when it's a good idea. Really. It's easier to look up word definitions, for one.
DeleteThe phone has such an influence on the kids nowadays! It will be interesting to know for how long they can keep their phone away, and what all they can do without their phone being with them.
ReplyDelete