This past week, my son went on his eighth grade Senior Trip to Philadelphia.  This was the first time that he was away from his father and I for the whole day in another state.  As you all can imagine, I was a nervous mom all day wondering if he was having a good time and if he was safe.  As parents we want our children to have many wonderful opportunities and experiences but we also want to protect them and keep them safe whenever possible.     Sometime in the afternoon, one of the parents on the trip messaged me to let me know that all the boys had gotten in trouble and their teacher was going to take their mobile phones away for the remainder of the trip.  Now, let me tell you, as an educator of over seventeen years, I am keenly aware of how distracting phones can be when it comes to the classroom.  Had his teacher chosen to take my son's phone away in school, I would have been all in support of it but this was not the scenario and I felt she was completely wrong in taking away … [Read more...]