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This survey suffers from the nothing at stake problem of assessing severity. You can't just ask it in a vacuum because it doesn't actually reveal any preference. I would bet my hat that if you asked teachers to rank the problems in their field cellphones would be consistently near the bottom. And "I would rather you fix these 18 things first" is not what anyone would call major.

Forty years ago I bet you could get "passing notes distraction" is a major problem. There was a whole generation that could text one handed in their pockets and they turned out fine. They're adults with real jobs now.

re: but smartphones are different, in this essay...




IMO the top 3 issues right now: 1. student mental health, 2. academic integrity, and 3. direct distraction from cellphones and game devices.

And #1 or #2 are directly tied to cellphones, too: not to say that reducing cellphone use will eliminate them, but it will certainly help.

And I expect other dividends from reducing cellphone use: the students who are addicted to short-form content have shockingly small attention spans.


I hear more complaints from teachers about funding, pay, and parents.


I teach in a private school; none of the things you mention frequently impact my ability to be successful in a classroom.

Sure, I'd like to be paid more, and I'd like easier interactions with parents. Or to live in a culture that prioritized education a bit more.




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