Smartphones, Yes or No?
The following represents an ongoing discussion about smartphones and their place in a boarding school setting. The purpose of this thread is to get feedback from parents and interested parties as to their feelings about smartphones in this school. I will attempt to bring up some of the points the faculty have discussed so that you may see the pros and cons of this particular technology.
Smartphones have undoubtedly changed the way we communicate and the way we access information. They can be incredibly useful in accessing otherwise hard to get information. I believe they will become almost standard issue for anyone wanting to use a cellphone in the near future. If you have purchased a phone recently, you will realize that the providers are incentivising you to buy a smartphone over a simple phone. Why might a parent want their child to have a smartphone while at Bass Memorial Academy.
- Access to email at all times
- Video conferencing
- Internet access for school
- Fun gadget to play with
Some parents are concerned with the amount of information that is at the fingertips of today’s youth. With this access comes a lot of responsibility. Here on campus, we have spent considerable money and time customizing an internet filter that will help us harness the benefit of the internet while not needlessly exposing your children to its filth. Smartphones pose another problem. We are unable at this time to filter the content that is streamed to them through your service provider. Potential concerns are as follows.
- Video conferencing with friends
- Access to harmful internet content
- Time wasting games
- Movie and music player
- WiFi hotspot provided to other devices
The real battle comes in not what your child might or might not do, but what another child might introduce your child to in a dormitory setting. Some possible solutions to this issue are to not allow smartphones at all, lock them down so that the internet is not accessible on them (easy on iphone, not as easy on android), or continue to try and monitor their use. The problem with the latter is that more and more students are getting them and this is becoming increasingly difficult.
This discussion is meant to determine how and if we can keep the good while preventing the bad. I need your help and your feedback to determine how to proceed with this potential dilemma. It is our purpose to be fair and thorough in caring for your children and we appreciate your thoughtful input.
Being that this academy is intended to prepare my children for post-highschool life, I think the best option is to treat the phone as if it was owned by a corporation. Lock out all functions not required for schooling. Both of my daughters have iPhones so this is not an issue. I understand it is harder to do with Android phones, but it is possible. I can lock the phones down myself with a passcode that they will not have and also disable the cellular data on it so that they will be required to use the wifi for browsing and thus the content filters. The other option along these lines is to require the phones to be sync’d to a single staff managed computer and allow only acceptable apps and again, disable the cellular data. This will not affect phone usage, but will enable content filtering and management of any internet access as well as application management. Much like the management that goes into the iPads, also managing the phones in this manner seems to be appropriate. My only concern would be getting the pass codes to unlock the phones after the year is up and they come home for a few months.
Phil,
Thanks for the opportunity to comment. First let me say that we really appreciate Bass’ commitment to “Youth, rightly trained” according to the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy. It is because of this that we are considering sending our daughter to Bass, and it is in this context that I would like to address your question.
Smart phones are basically iPads with a phone, Internet access via the phone signal, and sometimes a different operating system. Bass already has a policy on iPad use (which Dan summarizes as “lock out all the functions not required for school”) to help achieve “youth, rightly trained”, so it seems that the starting point for evaluating smart phones should be the iPad policy.
So let’s look at the “cost versus benefit” of allowing smart phones, assuming that an iPad-type policy is put in place. Benefits are being able to do the same iPad-type stuff while carrying a smaller device and being able to make a phone call.
The main cost that I see is the effort that will be required to implement such a policy and then check for compliance. iPads are very standardized and–as I understand–relatively easy to lock down. Non-Apple smart phones are not. In fact, it’s quite easy to unlock an Android phone from the installed software and gain complete root control (I’ve done it on mine). Also, there are several ways to hide apps on an Android phone and then restore them later. And I don’t know if it’s even possible to prevent or control Internet access over the cell phone data signal.
And then there are Windows smart phones, WebOS, Blackberry, Symbian, etc. Can each of them be controlled like an iPad, and how would it be done? And for all of these, how much time and effort would it take for the faculty to implement all of this and then check for compliance? It seems to me that the cost far outweighs the benefit.
Then if the question changes to, “Should we allow smart phones without a policy like the iPads?” my response is an emphatic, “No”. Our young people are in a battle between Christ and Satan, and the current culture with its music, games, websites, and entertainment is mostly on the wrong side. Free access to this will not further Bass’s goal of implementing true education for God’s kingdom.
While it is our job as parents and teachers to teach our youth to use these things responsibly and for God’s kingdom, I think that Bass has properly acknowledged through the music, Internet, computer, and iPad policies that teaching through free access is not the best approach for this age group. And even if they do choose only good things, I know that in my home my girls would benefit from less time on their electronic devices, not more.
May God bless and guide you all as you consider this decision.
Luke Rogers
I believe that either the smart phones should not be allowed or there must a way to limit the applications and internet access on them so that they only access the web by wifi through the BMA filter. Bass is a training ground where hopefully the students will learn to adopt the enforced restrictions/protections placed on them and carry them with them into adult life. Filters must be in place that prohibit access to objectionable sites, music, movies and even video conferencing with other students. It would be impossible to monitor or filter this over a 3G/4G network.
Since there are so many different types of phones and many plans require a data plan if the phone is purchased, I would imagine it would be quite impossible to enforce such limitations and/or monitor them. Our young people become very tech savvy and figure out ways to bypass the system if they are looking to do so. Students who were seeking such, were able to get around the current restrictions. So, the smart phones with open access would be an open door to allow evil forces in. As it currently stands, it is impossible for the deans/faculty to be able to monitor what the students are watching with their smart phones. Likewise many smart phones, along with regular cell phones, have micro SD cards that music and applications can be loaded onto. Such cards are extremely easy to hide as they are so small, and if not discovered will compromise the standards we are trying to uphold at BMA.
I know this is a tough issue as not all parents will see this in the same light. We must maintain high standards and hold our students accountable to them. Boundaries must be set and maintained. It is probably easiest to just not allow smart phones, or allow them only with 3G/4G connectivity/ camera and music/video capabilities turned off. While it would be very nice to be able to Skype with our son, we are willing to sacrifice that little inconvenience for the problems such video conferencing would allow.
We want our students to focus on the biblical mandate of Philippians 4:8, to keep their minds unspotted from the world. Our prayers are with you as you wrestle with this decision, that God will guide you. We appreciate your dedication and commitment to truly training our youth right. May God richly bless!
As a parent of a prospective student at Bass I would without reservation agree with the comments above of Mr. Neall and Mr. Rogers. Technology is a wonderful thing used positively but unfortunately along with the great benefits comes great risks. Satan’s greatest tool is his use of media for the destruction of out children. There are very few teenagers (and adults for that matter) that posess the spiritual maturity to be able to contend with what the temptation that free access to the internet provides and, I don’t care how hard you try, there are ways to get around a monitoring system on all of them. The negative far out weighs the good. And, even if used positively are a distraction from the reason we as parents are spending thousands of dollars–a Christian education for our children. Please let me know the outcome of this proprosal because it would make or break our consideration of sending our son to Bass. Thanks so much for being openmined and wise enough to ask for the imput of the parents in this decision. May God bless your upcoming school year.
Hi Phil,
I know that I don’t have a student that will ever attend Bass as my son is grown… but in reading the straight-forward pro vs con senario you’re sharing with parents/potential parents (which I think is both wise and considerate)… I had an idea as I was reading parents comments regarding the phone situation. Two thoughts come to mind: 1. as Mr. Danese recommends locking down everything on the phone so that students can only use what the school (and parents) want them to…. is a good idea. The knowledge of the student’s passcodes could be kept confidential from the student if: the staff at Bass provided the parents with the passcode to unlock the phone once their child arrived home… (by the sound of it some parents would choose to leave the restrictions in place even on vacations/leaves). Only Bass Administration and parents would share the passcode… students would never have access.
2. Any student that chooses to bring a smart phone to Bass would be required to surrender it to the boys or girls deans (having their name engraved on the case for ID purposes). Bass’s administration would then determine (possibly with parents feedback on timeline ideas for this decision) a couple times a week (when all students are free from scheduled attendance and could gather either in the auditorium, cafeteria or church fellowship hall and have a staff supervised time to check out their phones and call or skype with their parents or friends or do whatever is allowed with their phone. The point here is to limit their access and to supervise all access. This would at least provide students and parents to be able to share personal communication but in a controlled setting. In order to simplfy the situation regarding the blackberries, droids, etc., perhaps you need to specifiy that the student can only bring whatever brand phones that are compatible with the standard of control Bass wishes to excercise.
Just a few ideas– thought I’d share. I will keep you in my prayers as you work at finding a solution to the situation.
Blessings Phil,
Ria Fisher