School for boys creates policy to destroy cell phones in Texas, United States

After years of students and their parents repeatedly ignoring the rules, a private all-boys school in Texas (United States) has decided to apply a new approach to the use of smartphones and digital devices: if you bring it to school “we will destroy it.”

Western Academy, an independent liberal arts school, located in the city of Houston, which claims to aim to educate young people “in the good, the true and the beautiful”has never allowed students to bring electronic devices onto its campuses.

In the past, if a student was caught with a phone or other device during classes or at a school event, teachers would confiscate it and return it to parents after meeting with the principal, Jason Hebert, to explain that “they should not return the device to their child.”

Under the new policy, which Hebert detailed in a four page letter sent to parents last month, once the device is discovered, it will be destroyed and the student suspended. If it happens again, you will be automatically expelled.

In addition to its strict phone policy, the school — which has about 230 students in third through eighth grades — offers a unique educational model. Children can play freely among the trees, where they climb, build forts, use toy guns, and guard (or chase) chickens before, after, and during various times during the school day.

According to Hebert, the teaching staff, made up entirely of men, encourages respect and responsibility from an early age. Teachers ask students to stand up when an adult enters the classroom and invite parents to let their children learn to endure difficulties and accept the natural consequences when they forget to bring homework or lunch.

A Catholic priest of the Opus Dei prelature is the chaplain of the school, founded in 2010, and is in charge of the religious formation program.

The model is so popular that, despite the cost of secondary school education being around $28,000 annually, all grades have extensive waiting lists, and it is expected that they will soon begin enrolling on a waiting list even from kindergarten.

At the beginning of each school year, students are divided into four “houses” that compete throughout the year in activities such as “capture the flag” or “the hero race,” where teams choose a representative who runs around the campus, climbing obstacles and crawling in the mud. There is also a poetry recitation contest called “The Bardo.” Parent Stephanie Creech told CNA that her children are so happy at school that they “beg to come early and stay after school to keep playing.”

Looking at the damage

Hebert spoke to CNA about what prompted the change in smartphone policy, saying he chose the words in his letter very carefully.

“Smartphones are causing significant and unimaginable harm to the students who use them,” he wrote in the letter. “And they also harm the children of those parents who have chosen not to give them phones.”

“The damage that these devices have caused our children,” he said in the interview, “has simply never been imagined.”

He added that “it’s not just about pornography.” He explained that on YouTube, actors and content creators “do the most embarrassing actions just to get clicks. They have no respect for the dignity of their body or for life. Zero. And kids want to imitate them.”

The principal noted that the “straw that broke the camel’s back” was when a mother called him to tell him that her son had seen a violent and graphic video on a phone during a school event. After that incident, Hebert said, he and some school administrators said, “This is as far as we have come.”

When asked why he didn’t just opt ​​for immediate expulsion rather than destroying the devices, Hebert responded with a laugh: “To be frank, I want to destroy the phone. I want to give the kid a chance to live without it.” To do this, he bought a metal crusher.

“Look, I’m not an alarmist. I’m not a reactionary. But the bottom line is this: these devices are not neutral. The research is conclusive: they are harmful to our children. I have dealt with hundreds and hundreds of children over two decades in education and I have yet to see an exception to this rule,” he said.

Hebert said that, over the years, he has noticed a degradation in the quality of the kids’ conversation. “You can’t imagine the level of shamelessness” among some kids, many of whom are generally considered “good kids.”

“This type of behavior is unprecedented in my career as an educator, and even as a professional athlete,” he added.

In the early 2000s, before beginning her teaching career, which included teaching at The Heights School At Maryland, he spent a year as a professional football player on the practice squads of three NFL teams: the Chargers, Titans and Raiders.

“I never played a regular season game. I tell people: I made it to the NFL, but I didn’t make it in the NFL,” he said, laughing.

“Let’s be clear: I was an athlete surrounded by some of the most down-to-earth human beings on the planet,” he said. “These men weren’t ashamed to say anything in the locker room. But they would have blushed to hear some of the things these guys say! It’s unimaginable. However, it’s becoming more and more common now thanks to these devices.”

A “100% positive” response from parents

Asked if he feared parents would withdraw their children because of the new policy, the principal responded that if they don’t share the school’s values, it might be best for them to leave and have one of the many on the waiting list take their place.

In his letter to parents he wrote: “The school is a true alliance with parents. We do not say this for poetic effect, but because it must be that way so that the authentic growth of your children is a reality.”

Hebert invited parents to reflect: “What value does the telephone have for you? Are you willing to leave this place for it? This place where your child is so happy? Is the telephone worth that much? If so, then there is a clash of visions.”

However, since the new rule was implemented, the response from parents has been “100% positive.”

After learning of the school’s new policy, a mother whose son graduated from the school several years ago recently left a financial donation at the front desk “for the phone shredder.”

“Everyone knows it’s the right thing to do. Parents may be frustrated because saying no to their kids makes life harder, but they know it’s the right thing to do,” Hebert said.

As a father of seven children, Hebert said he and his wife do not allow their children to have smartphones or social media. “My kids may not know certain slang or jokes, or be aware of all the parties. They’re a little out of that world.”

“And while that seems important,” he added, “the alternative is worse. It’s too high a price.”

“We all want the truth,” he concluded, “and the truth is that these devices are doing a lot of harm to children. I am not a prophet of disaster, but one day these children will be in charge of society. Think about it.”

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.