Dr. Marvin Connelly, Cumberland County School Superintendent, spoke "truth to power" at the recent Greater Fayetteville Chamber’s State of the Community regarding the commitment to providing quality education to all students in Cumberland County schools. His leadership has made a difference in Cumberland County education and has been recognized locally, regionally, and statewide for his achievements. We have the right man in the right position and time. However, too many parents and taxpayers are not pleased with the direction local education is taking or the decisions handed down by our Cumberland County Board of Education members. Residents are looking forward to the November elections, hoping for a significant change in leadership and policies to revamp local school priorities. This change would provide Connelly more flexibility to improve our children's educational experience at all levels.
On the street, when talking with parents of school-age children in Cumberland County public schools, the most significant concerns are illiteracy (their child can't read) and the use of cell phones during school hours. When speaking with teachers, principals, and school administrators, absenteeism is the biggest concern that needs to be addressed. This trifecta of concerns formulates an equation that doesn't bode well for Fayetteville, Ft. Liberty and Cumberland County's future generations: cell phones + Absenteeism= Illiteracy. Our current Cumberland County School Board seems to be ignoring the nationwide trend of banning cell phones in the classroom. CCS has gone on record for not changing its cell phone policy and leaving the use of phones in the classroom up to individual teachers and principals. To many parents, this shows a reluctance of the School Board to take a responsible leadership role in the advocacy for their child's quality education while ignoring the detrimental effects cell phones can have on young children.
Studies nationally and worldwide have substantiated that the overuse of cell phones is responsible for many childhood mental health disorders and extreme depression. Again, it makes one wonder where the educators’ priorities are. In Cumberland County, reading levels are 52% below state and national levels, and student proficiency in math scores is worse at 59% below proficiency levels. Children can't learn if not in school, and absenteeism in Cumberland County schools is a whopping and embarrassing thirty percent. That is scandalous and may be the origin of this poor performance. Again, it makes you wonder who is setting the educational priorities. Maybe, just maybe, cell phones could be a significant part of the problem, along with the lack of parental responsibility.
Our local educational leaders can't do much about parental responsibility; however, they can influence the school and classroom environment where our children spend most of their day. School is not just about learning to read, write, and do arithmetic. It's about learning social skills like manners and interacting with others by developing good, solid character traits. This is why banning cell phones from the classroom is gaining momentum nationwide. Seeing our local educational leaders take a proactive stance on this topic would be encouraging to our community.
It's no secret that cell phones reduce face-to-face communication and interactions with peers. So, students become isolated from their classmates instead of communicating with them and developing friendships and social skills. Teachers, teachers' aides, parents, and even students claim that cell phones in the classroom disrupt and distract from the flow of teaching and learning by their use, ringing, and notification bells going off.
Cyberbullying is another concern. Back in the sixties, when I was in school, we called it a "Slam Book," where classmates answered questions and wrote comments about their teachers and classmates. Even though it had the propensity to make negative comments, it was mainly passed around to a small circle of close friends with no mass circulation. It had questions like: Do you like Jimmy Jones? Yes or No. Do you think Billy B. will ask Jenny G. to attend the prom? Yes or No. What do you think of our third-period Civics class teacher? Do you think Mr. Howstead is cute? The content was never nasty or threatening. Besides, you knew the person who was handing you off the book. However, the use of cell phones and social media has made high-tech cyberbullying ruthless. Trashing another classmate has become easy and convenient for children when using their cell phones to send hurtful messages, spread rumors, or post inappropriate information about their peers during school hours. Information that is disseminated in minutes. Cell phones in the hands of immature children only increase the likelihood of cyberbullying.
In addition, there is the concern that cell phones in the classroom create the opportunity to facilitate cheating on tests and assignments by accessing information online (Google).
All the above concerns are legitimate. However, I will refer back to educational priorities. Who is setting them? WRAL TV recently reported that some North Carolina school districts spend tens of thousands of dollars on "pouches" for students to store their cell phones until the end of class. I think that solution is absurd. How can an expenditure of that nature be justified when there is a substantial lack of reading and educational materials and resources in the classroom, and teachers are spending their own money on basic school supplies? At some point, responsible educational leaders must address the correlation between chronic absenteeism, the use of cell phones in schools, and illiteracy rates and set priorities to ensure our children receive a quality education.
I applaud those Cumberland County teachers and principals who have taken responsible action to ensure their students are not distracted from the educational process and keep the child's education and development as their highest priority. I hope our soon to be newly elected Cumberland County Board of Education also addresses these issues responsibly in the coming years. Our children's future depends on it. Thank you for reading the Up & Coming Weekly community newspaper.