State should get smartphones out of schools

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As Connecticut school districts look to open for the school year with a great deal of uncertainty about what that will look like, it is vital that children’s social and emotional development is part of the equation and not overlooked as officials focus on protection from the coronavirus. 

In recent decades, American schools moved to focus more and more (and in some cases, almost exclusively) on academic goals, to the detriment of the social and emotional development of children. What this current pandemic has laid bare is the ugly underbelly of this unfortunate reality. 

Since our schools were founded in Colonial America, schools have had a dual mission: to raise smart people and to raise good people. There is not a choice to be made, and there never has been. Although if someone pinned me up against a wall and forced me to choose, I would without a second thought, choose to raise good people. I have come to believe that unfortunately, Social Emotional Learning has become the “bucket” for everything non-academic. 

I see SEL as an outcome. Children should become socially and emotionally intelligent. This happens through role modeling or didactic teaching. But if the lessons do not align with the role models who are delivering them, then actions speak louder than words. 

There is one critical and essential element to all of this extremely messy work of raising good people that is always implied but rarely is made explicit: No learning (academic or social/emotional) can ever happen in unsafe environments. Right now, utter the word “safety,” and the discussion focuses on mask wearing, physical distancing, sensitization, plexiglass separators, temperature taking, face shields and so forth. But safety means more than that. It means the moral and practical imperative to create emotionally, socially, culturally, racially and ethnically safe learning spaces. No learning can occur until this is achieved. And, further, these safe environments must be restorative, not punitive. Restorative 

When the opening guidelines are reviewed, one of the requirements might be to place students in small “cohorts” where they would rarely interact with other small cohorts. This is not too different from the way family units work. Children (especially siblings) are “frenemies.” Sometimes they can’t get enough of one other, and five minutes later a fight might erupt. COVID-19 has provided a real opportunity for families to bond and create a tighter family unit; this is nice in principle and probably for the long run, but to do this for an extended period means that there will be disagreements. This is part of life. Somehow, at the end of the day, the family unit remains intact. 

on mask wearing, physical distancing, sanitation, plexiglass separators, temperature taking, face shields and so forth. But safety means more than that. It means the moral and practical imperative to create emotionally, socially, culturally, racially and ethnically safe learning spaces. No learning can occur until this is achieved. And, further, these safe environments must be restorative, not punitive. Restorative environments set high academic and social expectations while providing the support every school community member needs to reach those expectations. 

When the opening guidelines are reviewed, one of the requirements might be to place students in small “cohorts” where they would rarely interact with other small cohorts. This is not too different from the way family units work. Children (especially siblings) are “frenemies.” Sometimes they can’t get enough of one other, and five minutes later a fight might erupt. COVID-19 has provided a real opportunity for families to bond and create a tighter family unit; this is nice in principle and probably for the long run, but to do this for an extended period means that there will be disagreements. This is part of life. Somehow, at the end of the day, the family unit remains intact. 

More important now than ever, schools need to work on this very same “family model.” These cohorts need desperately to be able to build high quality relationships and community and count on and be held accountable to one another exactly like a family. And then, when there are the unavoidable conflicts, they must be able to work issues out restoratively so that the cohort remains intact and grows stronger. 

No matter what model schools open with and evolve into, it is paramount that each and every educator, and those making the decisions about all of this, prioritize the emotional, social, cultural, racial and ethnic safety — as well as the physical safety —of every student. This is our moral obligation. 

Not only will all children thrive, but those who have experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse, neglect or racial trauma will experience respite from their unfortunate circumstances, and they too will be able to thrive. There are choices about the delivery of education; there is no choice about what our top priority must be. 

Jo Ann Freiberg is a former employee of the state Department of Education, where she managed the arena of Bullying, School Climate, Character Education and Restorative Practices. She now works for School Climate Consultants.