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 New York Schools Give Students Free Cellphones in Pilot Reward Program
When students in select New York schools score good grades, they won’t just be getting the kudos of teachers and parents -- they will also be rewarded with talk time, ringtones and games for cellphones given to them free.
Digital Journal — In a pilot program affecting 2,500 students in Manhattan and Brooklyn, education officials are giving away Samsung flip-phones to seven participating middle schools. Each student receives a free phone with 130 prepaid minutes. When a student does well at school with good behaviour or impressive grades, they can earn “points” that can be redeemed for talk time, ringtones, games and other downloads. The Million Motivation Campaign’s cellphone project will also allow principals and teachers to text-message students to alert them to school events, tests or study tips.
Program coordinators are confident the free-cellphone idea will not only appeal to the nerdy side of a teen lifestyle but also inspire the children to work hard at school. Dr. Roland Fryer, Chief Equality Officer for the Department of Education, said in a statement: "The Million is a bold idea that aims to re-brand achievement to students, showing them that their dreams don’t need boundaries and providing a clear pathway to achieve those ambitions."
Much like any unique project that blends freebies, technology and academic achievement, the Million wants to test-drive the program before rolling it out across the city. Debra Wexler, spokesperson for the New York City Department of Education, told DigitalJournal.com they “wanted to try an innovative approach to address student motivation.” She went on to say using free cellphones is just a means to an end – “We don’t want the students to be hooked on the incentive, but to be motivated. And now school officials can communicate with kids using a medium the teens already use.”
But there’s a small wrinkle to the Million plan. New York has banned cellphone use in schools, so the Million phones can only be used after class. The policy, enforced stringently in 2006, sounds like it could bruise the Education Department’s plan to give students free rein to use the phone after they win the “rewards.” Wexler thinks otherwise: "Kids can connect to each other after school. And an early evening text message from a teacher can offer a study tip to students, for example." The pilot program is focusing on “high-need students,” as Wexler explains, giving poverty-ridden neighbourhoods a chance to spark ambition and achievement in communities that may be hurt by crime. Urban education rarely rewards students for good behaviour using technology such as a Samsung flip-phone, but the Million project wants to upturn traditional educational strategies.
And like any adventurous initiative, there will be pros and cons: the benefits of the Million reside in the motivational factor, which should give students a push in the right direction. Wanting a cellphone game, for instance, might drive a student to study harder on a test, or complete last night’s homework. The lure of the prize could end up turning a D-grade student into a B-plus achiever.
On the flip side, rewarding students for good grades with material goods may be sending the wrong message. “Do well in school and you’ll get a prize.” Is that what kids should be learning in middle school? It’s not unbelievable to think these students already get that message from home, where allowance and Christmas gifts may be given only to the hardest-working children. If students rely on presents or points for achieving solid grades and abstaining from school fights, the education behind the program could be lost. Students may only care about the prize and not how they got there.
Also, because students are now in contact with teachers and principals, there’s a sense of Big Brother watching over the student body now. If a student doesn’t arrive on time for class, a teacher could call him on his Samsung phone. Is that what students and teachers want? Constant contact could spell trouble for school officials if close relationships begin to build between student and teacher. And students could be rightly angry at teachers for texting and calling them every week, even if it is to remind them about the test for which they’re already studying.
However you view the Million, its impact is not merely a whisper in the wind. Bridging technology and educational achievement has the potential to overhaul how poverty-stricken areas combat the dropout crisis, if done right. It will be interesting to see how the Million progresses in the coming year, and whether the appeal of cellphones can make sure no child is left behind.
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New York has banned cellphone use in schools, so the Million phones can only be used after class .
Thats common in most schools, to ban cells in the school. I have 1st graders who carry cells and if they even as so much as ring in their back packs, they go to the office and MOM gets to take time from work and pay to pick them up.
I think this isn't such a BAD idea......but look at it really. Most kids already own a cell phone - so what part of a given population are without cell phones?
Will this incentive work on that particular group?
In some of the poorest districts, EVERY KID has a cell phone - but on free lunch program. I don't mean that to be snotty, just factually from an in the class standpoint.
My son doesn't have a cellular phone because I don't think he YET NEEDS a cellular phone (despite almost all the other kids having one). He will get my hand me down in MAY. Will that incentive be good for him? No because I will not allow him service.....plus he is already passing.
The kids who are failing - already have cell phones.
Great idea but they need something for ALL, not ONE item for all. -
This might work, especially for those deemed low-income. Many of those children won't have cell phones because even if their grades are good, parents can't afford them.
It will be interesting to see how this does work.
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You know, when I was a kid we got good grades and behaved in class and we were rewarded by not getting the strap or not getting our asses whupped by our parents (mine excluded, of course, because they beieved in not smacking us when they probably should have!) and now, we are bribing our kids with material things like prepaid cell phones and crazy ring tones to get good grades and behave in class. My goodness, how we've evolved.
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The reward for good grades should be a functioning brain that can help you get through life and think creatively.
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@ Bob Ewing
The reward for good grades should be a functioning brain that can help you get through life and think creatively.
That's the way it should be, but I don't think we'll see many children appreciative of that fact anymore. -
@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
That's the way it should be, but I don't think we'll see many children appreciative of that fact anymore.
that may be the central failure of the system; the loss of the love of learning. -
@ Bob Ewing
that may be the central failure of the system; the loss of the love of learning.
For too many children, this is true. For some of these children, they are too caught up trying to survive, to think about schooling...then you have their parents which may be the drop-outs of the gereation before who don't believe that education is as important as they claim...I could go on and on. Just tragic. -
@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
This might work, especially for those deemed low-income. Many of those children won't have cell phones because even if their grades are good, parents can't afford them.
It will be interesting to see how this does work.
Deb - you'd be surprised at how many of these "low income" kiddos actually have cell phones. My husband and I got into a discussion last night about this very thing. His job is all about who isn't passing because if his schools don't pass - he loses his job. They are the poor - the poor don't pass because they have to worry with survival (not eating so much but simply trying not to get beaten by mom or dad or trying to take care of themselves because many (not all) of their parents do not really care so much about the kiddos education and survival is more important than the grades. But the poor.......all seem to have cell phones and are sneaking them out in the classrooms and texting their friends....LOL. Its all so confusing to me! :-S
I'd rather NOT have a cell phone or cable tv or a really cool car or house of derion jeans so I could be there for my kids and make sure their homework is complete and their grades are passing and that they are in an extracurricular activity to ensure their butt is out of trouble and man oh man, do I monitor their friends and their activities online........and we bargain shop {I know, I'm abusive}.
I think maybe an incentive program that provides them with something relevant or a choice (parent approved, of course).....like a gaming system with age appropriate ratings games for grades?
In my era (the arcade era), we got TOKENS for our report cards: 5 for every A; 2 for every B. With 7 classes - a straight A report card......I was on Donkey Kong for HOURS! :-) And yes, I was a straight A student. Of course my mom whooped my ass with belt if I got out of line. I called her a bitch
one time
and was met with the palm of a hand.
Incentives for grades are fantastic, I just think relevance is probably more motivational (sold out concert tickets? amusement park tickets and a free pass from school? a round trip limo ride to an all you can eat pizza buffet for lunch?) -
You know, reading through what you wrote made me kind of chuckle because you are probably right...there are more kids that have cell phone [from low income homes] than we realize. And that is sad...it makes you wonder how that's possible...if the family is already struggling.
I agree with the incentives that are educational versus the cell phone idea...now that I think about everyone's comments. When I went to school, we had no incentives other than end-of-the-year cerificates for work well done, or for perfect attendence, etc. When my kids went to school, it was more like if they got good grades they'd get $20 or a new pair of shoes or new clothes. It's sad to see how we've evolved over the last 40 years, ya know?
I've never been in a position not to have to pinch pennies, and live paycheck to paycheck...so my kids, like I said before, are so much more appreciative of what they had because they didn't get all the things that were on their continually-growing "I want" lists! The only time that they came close was at Christmas!
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I teach in Los Angeles...San Fernando Valley, specifically.
About 98% of our students in my school are on Federal Meal Program..Free or Reduced Lunch. Some educators say these are sometimes the only meals a child in poverty may eat during the week and that some kids truly show up to school each day because at least their parents know they'll get fed. I also believe that there is NO income checking for this program...it's basically on the honor system for the parents to accurately report their income, if I have my facts straight.
I don't know what motivates people to allot certain amounts of money for certain items and why some people consider mobile phones a necessity and others consider it a luxury.
Consider this about students who live in poverty: crime tends to occur more in areas of poverty, right? Denser population because they can't afford to pay higher rent for a bigger apartment, right? More people? Gangs? One of the gangs on the Feds's bad list is right here in my school's attendance area! I think I'd want my kid to have a cell phone so they could call 911 or I could track their whereabouts, but then again, I don't have children of my own, so maybe I don't really understand.
Why do we who are wealthy enough (read= perceived as "really rich" by people like my students) to afford Blackberries loathe observing "the poor" having them? I find the same attitude in myself, and the Federal Meal ticket thing is a matter of either true poverty or fraud. Consider Milken (sp?). Poverty is not a prerequisite for committing fraud. So the contempt I admit I have felt isn't really justified, now, is it?
I am not raising children in a gang-infested area, but I teach in one. I know that some of my students have been attacked and/or approached by gangs. I think if I were a parent, I would put a pretty high priority on my kid having a mobile phone.
I seriously doubt incentive programs of any kind will spur people to higher academic achievement. This to me seems to just be a very exaggerated "good sticker" program. Ok, I know it's much more than that. Giving kids (poor or not) stuff they could be motivated to earn makes sense to me: isn't that what we adults work for? We don't work only for the LOVE of working...even those of us who "love" our jobs...most of us would discontinue our present job if we had an endless supply of money, right?.
The ancient Greeks complained about adolescents...see for yourself. And people throughout history have bemoaned the annoyances caused by new technologies and pined away for the "good old days". I admit I've done it countless times, too! And I'm only 37...
As far as texting from school staff to students: at Teacherweb.com, there is a way for people to sign up for emails/texts, but it goes out to all the people on the list--it's not individualized. I think it's NOT appropriate for school staff to individually text or call students on their personal lines. We already have access to the phone numbers their parents/guardians provide as well as their home addresses. But you'd never do a home visit with only the kid there and not an adult. And you're supposed to talk to an adult when you call, not just to the kid. It's just common sense.
A teacher texting a tardy kid? Get real! I don't have time for that during class! And the kids who come tardy aren't really the most cooperative anyway, so why would I want them to show up and interrupt my class? OK, yes, they should be there, and NO, I shouldn't delight in them ditching. But if you ask ANY teacher if they've ever been glad a certain student was absent one day, they'd be lying if they said they never felt that way! (I'm not saying that makes it right, though. Of course we must deal with tardies and truancies appropriately.)
The only incentive program that I think is a "great" idea is job training, scholarships, and/or loans for both juveniles AND adults. Don't give them a pretty fishing line; teach them to fish! Why else do people go into a life of crime and eventually into prison? Most people in prison probably are there because at one point in their lives, they felt they didn't have a chance or a choice except to do the crime/s to survive in their world at the time.
I wouldn't go for the phone/game/minutes program because next thing you know, they'll be accessing porn and some teacher will be inappropriate, and it'll turn into a big scandal. Because once you give it to the kid, our litigious society will make it **your** responsibility regardless of their actions...no matter what happens...remember the lady who sued McD's for the coffee being too hot? And smokers of my generation suing tobacco companies when we all knew it was bad for us the whole time (MY GENERATION)?
Besides, who do I think I am that if they choose to be tardy, ME texting them is going to change their minds??? Don't you remember being a teenager? All the adults were complete idiots and we knew everything!
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