I have a theory about smartphones in schools

Plus: Permission to be quiet, a programming note for paid subscribers, and more

Good morning! It’s Wednesday, and here are this week’s five items for you.

In this post, paid subscribers will receive:

1. the rest of the first item

2. new fodder for my detective fiction obsession

3. permission to be quiet

4. some recent work

5. a programming note for paid subscribers

If you’re not already a paid subscriber, please consider upgrading to read the whole post—and to support my work.

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1. A take I haven’t written elsewhere

I have a theory about smartphones in schools

(via)

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you may have seen I’m soliciting contact info for public middle and high school teachers (and subs, administrators, and support staff) for a story I’m developing on smartphones and schools:

Bonnie Kristian @bonniekristian

I'm researching for an article on smartphones in schools and want to interview public middle and high school teachers. If that's you, will you complete this form so I can get in touch? Or if you know a teacher, will you send them my way? More info:

forms.gleTeacher contacts for story on phones in schoolsMy name is Bonnie Kristian, and I’m a journalist and author. My most recent book is Untrustworthy, and you can find me writing at The New York Times, Christianity Today, The Daily Beast, Reason, and elsewhere. I’m in the early stages of research for an article on smartphone use in schools. To that…

Incidentally, if you fit the bill and are willing to do a short email interview, please sign up! Or if you know a teacher who might do it, please send this link to them.

I can’t do anything like a representative poll here, but I’m hoping for a broad sample of teachers from around the country. I’m most interested in traditional public schools, but charter school teachers are welcome, too. This will be a long-term project, so if you’re worried about time constraints before the school year ends, don’t be: I might not be in touch until summer, anyway.

I haven’t spelled out, in that form, exactly what the story is about, but I figured I’d give paid subscribers a little preview here. Here’s my working theory: