A Mission-Based Approach to Technology
Happy New Year, everyone! I am writing to you today with the latest installment of my thoughts on the parent-school partnership that we rolled out in a very intentional way last year. You may remember that it basically affirms that we must do our work in concert with each other in order to have the greatest positive effect on our students’ growth and progress. It begins with the presumption of goodwill and a commitment to work together to achieve that goal. So, I want to throw out one of the most difficult topics in education today, and one of the thorniest aspects of raising children in today’s world: smart phone access and social media.
When I first became headmaster (2013), I wanted ESA to be a leader in teaching responsible use of technology, and so we implemented our “bring your own device” system (BYOD). This came about after a few years of research and visits to other schools around the country that had different kinds of technology systems in place, everything from using iPhones, to laptops (1:1), to computer labs, to iPads/other tablets. Wireless computing was just becoming more standardized and our IT department (Mark Broussard) was a phenomenal partner in all of this, developing our fiber backbone and system of wireless routers that allowed us to move forward on this. The BYOD system gave our students and families the greatest amount of flexibility and choice, which ties directly into the idea of supporting our students’ creativity, problem-solving skills, and growth. Our teachers were rock stars and put the time into their professional development on how to utilize technology in the classroom. We are still a BYOD school, and interestingly, as much as everything has changed in those years, technology in education is still used for the same basic purposes: as a powerful tool for information management, collaboration and communication, and content creation. Over that same period of time, as things changed, we adapted our acceptable use policies to address the changes. Cell phones have always been “banned” at the Lafayette campus (LS). In 2022 we stopped the use of cell phones during the day for MS students, and the US followed in the spring of 2024. So now, all Cade campus students (6th- 12th) may bring a phone to school, but it must stay put away through the day except for being able to do a quick check for messages at the beginning of lunch. The change on campus was immediate and positive—kids are not on their phones, they are outside in nature interacting with each other.
Last spring, I had a great conversation with someone who works in the field of child development who asked me from an educator’s view, how have children changed over the years. My answer to her is that I don’t believe children have fundamentally changed over the years that I have been in education (now more than 30 years) or perhaps ever. Childhood is meant to be a time for children to explore and soak up the ideas and ideals of a culture, to learn how to exist in the world. That world, one hundred years ago was very different than today, and kids were kids. Stories of my grandmother disobeying her father to take a ride on the bi-plane at the county fair and fly low over his fields while he was plowing come to mind. Fifty years ago when I was a kid, we pushed the boundaries as well, jumping on a city bus and going to downtown Cincinnati to explore, learning what we could and couldn’t do. Fifteen years ago, kids started having access to a whole new world of “social interactions,” without actually interacting. Children haven’t really changed, but the world around them has shifted on its axis in huge ways. We’ve had to adapt our policies to that changing world.
In considering our policies we always look to how they can be tied directly back to our mission, vision and values. These can be found on our website, but at the start of this year, I’d like to highlight them for the community as a beacon that we steer by, our north star.
Our mission is to instill in every student the habits of scholarship and honor. ESA challenges students to grow intellectually, spiritually, and physically.
At ESA we nurture the twin virtues of freedom and responsibility. We pursue these virtues in the daily life of our school by balancing joy and challenge, inventiveness and tradition, respect and informality, trust and support. We cultivate and celebrate this balance, in our vibrant, eclectic community that prizes both individual freedom and cooperation. We take responsibility for what we do and say, and freely use our individual talents and strengths to become energetic citizens who sustain our community by making positive contributions.
We live out our Episcopal Identity by respecting the dignity of every person on our campus and striving to live according to the qualities expressed in our school prayer when we say, “Bless us in our work and in our play. Make us gentle, generous, truthful, kind, and brave. Keep us in purity of heart, and let the life of our school go on from strength to strength and have its place in meaning in Thy Kingdom.”
Our current approach to smartphones is one that balances the values we look to uphold, freedom and responsibility, tradition and innovation, trust and support. Our tiered approach to restricting cell phones at the school is one that we hope will actually accomplish the goal of teaching appropriate time and use for technology, while giving kids intentional time away from these devices during the school day so that they can develop the soft skills that have become so very important in today’s world: interaction, communication, the ability to have a conversation with another person. It is also a policy that balances the various needs and approaches of our families. As with any of our policies and procedures, they have evolved and will continue to evolve over time, and we will keep you up to date as we navigate these issues.
As educators and as parents we have a shared responsibility to care for our children, to help them navigate the world into which they are born. So, I ask you to be aware of the world, to pay attention. To that end, we have established and will continue to update resources to help you guide your family decisions. For now, our policy will continue to keep cell phones out of the day-to-day of school. We’ve seen so many positive outcomes from simply not allowing kids to use their cell phones on campus: the face to face interactions, the silly games they invent, the conversations they have with each other and with teachers, the clubs they join—all of this has increased since we implemented our cell phone ban. It has been re-affirming to see the positive differences that can come from such a simple change. Some things you may want to consider as well:
Back
When I first became headmaster (2013), I wanted ESA to be a leader in teaching responsible use of technology, and so we implemented our “bring your own device” system (BYOD). This came about after a few years of research and visits to other schools around the country that had different kinds of technology systems in place, everything from using iPhones, to laptops (1:1), to computer labs, to iPads/other tablets. Wireless computing was just becoming more standardized and our IT department (Mark Broussard) was a phenomenal partner in all of this, developing our fiber backbone and system of wireless routers that allowed us to move forward on this. The BYOD system gave our students and families the greatest amount of flexibility and choice, which ties directly into the idea of supporting our students’ creativity, problem-solving skills, and growth. Our teachers were rock stars and put the time into their professional development on how to utilize technology in the classroom. We are still a BYOD school, and interestingly, as much as everything has changed in those years, technology in education is still used for the same basic purposes: as a powerful tool for information management, collaboration and communication, and content creation. Over that same period of time, as things changed, we adapted our acceptable use policies to address the changes. Cell phones have always been “banned” at the Lafayette campus (LS). In 2022 we stopped the use of cell phones during the day for MS students, and the US followed in the spring of 2024. So now, all Cade campus students (6th- 12th) may bring a phone to school, but it must stay put away through the day except for being able to do a quick check for messages at the beginning of lunch. The change on campus was immediate and positive—kids are not on their phones, they are outside in nature interacting with each other.
Last spring, I had a great conversation with someone who works in the field of child development who asked me from an educator’s view, how have children changed over the years. My answer to her is that I don’t believe children have fundamentally changed over the years that I have been in education (now more than 30 years) or perhaps ever. Childhood is meant to be a time for children to explore and soak up the ideas and ideals of a culture, to learn how to exist in the world. That world, one hundred years ago was very different than today, and kids were kids. Stories of my grandmother disobeying her father to take a ride on the bi-plane at the county fair and fly low over his fields while he was plowing come to mind. Fifty years ago when I was a kid, we pushed the boundaries as well, jumping on a city bus and going to downtown Cincinnati to explore, learning what we could and couldn’t do. Fifteen years ago, kids started having access to a whole new world of “social interactions,” without actually interacting. Children haven’t really changed, but the world around them has shifted on its axis in huge ways. We’ve had to adapt our policies to that changing world.
In considering our policies we always look to how they can be tied directly back to our mission, vision and values. These can be found on our website, but at the start of this year, I’d like to highlight them for the community as a beacon that we steer by, our north star.
Our mission is to instill in every student the habits of scholarship and honor. ESA challenges students to grow intellectually, spiritually, and physically.
At ESA we nurture the twin virtues of freedom and responsibility. We pursue these virtues in the daily life of our school by balancing joy and challenge, inventiveness and tradition, respect and informality, trust and support. We cultivate and celebrate this balance, in our vibrant, eclectic community that prizes both individual freedom and cooperation. We take responsibility for what we do and say, and freely use our individual talents and strengths to become energetic citizens who sustain our community by making positive contributions.
We live out our Episcopal Identity by respecting the dignity of every person on our campus and striving to live according to the qualities expressed in our school prayer when we say, “Bless us in our work and in our play. Make us gentle, generous, truthful, kind, and brave. Keep us in purity of heart, and let the life of our school go on from strength to strength and have its place in meaning in Thy Kingdom.”
Our current approach to smartphones is one that balances the values we look to uphold, freedom and responsibility, tradition and innovation, trust and support. Our tiered approach to restricting cell phones at the school is one that we hope will actually accomplish the goal of teaching appropriate time and use for technology, while giving kids intentional time away from these devices during the school day so that they can develop the soft skills that have become so very important in today’s world: interaction, communication, the ability to have a conversation with another person. It is also a policy that balances the various needs and approaches of our families. As with any of our policies and procedures, they have evolved and will continue to evolve over time, and we will keep you up to date as we navigate these issues.
As educators and as parents we have a shared responsibility to care for our children, to help them navigate the world into which they are born. So, I ask you to be aware of the world, to pay attention. To that end, we have established and will continue to update resources to help you guide your family decisions. For now, our policy will continue to keep cell phones out of the day-to-day of school. We’ve seen so many positive outcomes from simply not allowing kids to use their cell phones on campus: the face to face interactions, the silly games they invent, the conversations they have with each other and with teachers, the clubs they join—all of this has increased since we implemented our cell phone ban. It has been re-affirming to see the positive differences that can come from such a simple change. Some things you may want to consider as well:
- Use the parental controls that are available on your child’s cell phone to restrict/monitor what they are doing. Know all of your child’s usernames and passwords.
- Don’t let children keep their phone or computer in their room at night (it will interrupt sleep, and there is no monitoring).
- Consider the “Wait until 8th” idea of no smart phone until the end of 8th grade—until then, consider a more limited phone that will allow them to stay in contact via text or phone call.
- Delay social media accounts until students are older.
- Follow and watch the various webinars that the school makes available to parents about raising kids in today’s world. The ISACS series of webinars for parents begins September 25th.
Episcopal School of Acadiana
Episcopal School of Acadiana is a private coeducational day school for students in grades PK3 through 12. Our mission is to instill in every student the habits of scholarship and honor.
Episcopal School of Acadiana (Lafayette Campus)
Episcopal School of Acadiana (Cade Campus)
ESA does not discriminate on the basis of physical disability, race, religion, gender, or national or ethnic origin.
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