Personally, I feel it is a good idea to confiscate cell phones for the entire lesson. Students have their phones before and after school and during breaks, so for them to go a few hours without them is actually a good idea for student self development - character development (self regulation and control).
I think it is so important in life and such a valuable skill to go without the thing that you really desire just so that you can realize that you really do not need it and that there is more to life than that thing...whether it be a person, or object, etc. I also feel that there is a lot of self development to be had in letting go of the thing that is consuming the majority of time or is transitioning into, if not already, an addiction. There is so much of ourselves to be discovered that unfortunately remains hidden or locked up or does not have a chance to grow or develop because something else, of lesser importance, is competing for us - our time, our potential. In many cases, unfortunately, that addiction, temptation, etc robs and sadly destroys parts of us that we may not ever get back.
I fear that a lot of these students are addicted to their cell phones and I worry about how these addictions will play out for the rest of their lives. Also, how addictions are transferable - for example, continued cell phone use during times or moments of the day where it is inappropriate teaches children addictive behavior and encourages addictive thought patterns which may be transferable to other situations in life.
As educators, I do feel it is our responsibility to teach our students how to place regulations or restrictions over these things and develop a pathway of cultivating self control. These skills are transferable and do not only have impact within the classroom. The other day I stumbled upon an activity where at the beginning of the year students have to do goal setting and have to choose one or two goals that they wish to accomplish during the course of the year. I feel that this could be a good community building activity to have in the class as the teacher and others students can keep their classmates accountable and it can also be a topic of discussion through the year. Goals can and should be worked on smaller and larger scales. For example, setting a quick daily goal at the beginning of the class or the teacher can even put up a class goal on the board that s/he can continually refer back to during the class. Goals can be something like: no cell phone use, not talking when others are talking, making sure to encourage one's peers, challenging oneself more, etc. I feel that implementing goal setting in the classroom will turn into an invaluable lifelong skill for each student.
