No Phones in Schools?

OK, so there’s been a bit of chatter about some schools that are instituting a ban on smartphones in schools these days. And I have to admit, I’m kind of a fan of this. Smartphones are a window into the myriad of distractions in the world today.. I’m a victim of the same. Sometimes too much information is simply too much. 
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So, after I considered this for a moment, I thought about the simple exercise of wearing a watch. I do recall one of my classmates who thought it was clever to write the answers to a test on the face of his watch. And no, I had no association with coaching him in this exercise! This was in the day when a bell was manually rung to indicate a change of class rooms. Imagine that!  I also recall a young teacher who came into the shop about 10 years ago and noticed our “Slap Watches”, modestly priced at under $10 and asked if she could get a discount if she bought about 20 of them. I said, "Certainly". Then she explained that she wanted to offer her students an opportunity to learn how to read time on an analog watch. GREAT IDEA! 

So why the ban on smart phones? Well, I’m sure most of my readers will admit that we all waste  a lot of time on the phone, myself included. But when these young minds are literal sponges, shouldn’t what they soak up be something of great use in the future development of their being a productive part of society and not the latest Tick-tock (no pun intended) or Instagram reel? 

I’ll admit, I would love to see more school kids wearing a watch on their wrist. It’s a simple device, and in my opinion, full of magic, mechanical (or electronic) prowess, history and wonder that brought me into this profession. They don’t need to get instant messaging from their classmates, or the score of a rival team. They just simply need to be on time!


I had an employee once who would, almost predictably, be late to open the shop. His excuse? My alarm didn’t go off. “Ah, but you work in a shop that is all about time. Want a reliable alarm clock? I have a few.”  I’m getting too old for such excuses. 

There’s an argument that the phone offers information that can assist in educating our children. I’m not about to doubt that. But unlike general education which has served us all well for generations, there are the basics that can not necessarily be garnished from a smartphone. Being on time is certainly one of them. My father said frequently, “If you are not 5 minutes early, you are late.”  The legendary Paul Newman had a wonderful watch, a Rolex Daytona. It was inscribed by Joanne Woodward “Drive Carefully, Me”. As the story goes, Newman’s daughter’s boyfriend at the time was given the watch and told “Keep it wound and it keeps pretty good time”. The boyfriend sold the watch at auction in 2017 for over $17,000,000. I doubt a smartphone would ever achieve that kind of status. Wear it on your wrist!

Cheers, Dave