""Schoolkids are creating a Google Doc with their friends that they all have real-time access to, and they just type into it during class," one teacher explained in a recent TikTok video. The clip had since racked up over 4.4 million views. "They basically reinvented the AOL chat room." Other teachers have shared similar stories. "It's like we are back in the nineties," one said. "That's what we did.""
""Rather than get mad, many teachers praised the students' ingenuity. "Kids will always find a way, but honestly, the creativity involved is a skill worth developing," one commented. The idea of pulling up a Google Doc to communicate with friends in class is not new, as many in the comments pointed out. But it is new to Gen Alphas, many of whom have grown up with phones never far from their fingertips.""
Many schools have enacted bell-to-bell cellphone bans, prompting students to adopt alternatives like shared Google Docs to chat in real time during class. Teachers report amusement and praise for student ingenuity and see this creativity as a useful skill. Students are also resurrecting retro devices and games, such as Sony Discman, iPod Shuffles, Connect Four, and Pac-Man, to pass time without phones. Concerns driving bans include classroom distraction, worsening mental health, and cyberbullying. Surveys show over 70 percent of high school teachers view phone distraction as a major problem. Research indicates students required to surrender phones perform better academically.
Read at Fast Company
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