The Problem Is The Technology or Why Rob Manford Is Wrong

I teach high school English in a district that has a "No Cell Phone" policy. It's not a popular policy with a large portion of the district's faculty. The argument being that this generation is attached to their technology and if we want them to stay engaged with learning we have to allow them to use their phones in class. The world is becoming more technological advanced, so you either jump on the wave or be crushed by it. Which sounds compelling, but is ignoring the reality of human nature. If you allow students to have their phones in class they aren't going to be using them for school work. This isn't really an opinion, it's kind of a fact. Whatever engagement you think you are creating is going to be lost to Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok. And even worse, the kids screwing around end up hurting those around them as well. Teachers that attack those who explain this, saying "if your lessons are strong enough there isn't a problem" are just fooling themselves with their self-righteousness. No lesson is so good or so engaging that every student with their cell phone on will stick to the task at hand.
The argument doesn't end up mattering though because the policy has no effect on the student's use of phones. Kids brazenly walk through the halls on their phones, some teachers allow them in their class and some don't and when a student gets caught with a phone they might get a warning or they might have the phone taken away. If the student has the phone taken away multiple times, it leads to possible detentions. Maybe things escalate to an in-school suspension, but that is always for not letting the adult have the phone you were caught with, not for having it in the first place. Those who punish students for using phones only cause them to find more creative ways to check their phones during class time. The only way to truly prevent the students from using phones and maintaining a "No Cell Phone" policy is to have them turn in the phones before school or class.
How can we deprive students of the opportunity to learn by removing technology from the classroom? The fact of the matter is the ways we have been learning for centuries are more effective than any technology you bring into the classroom. We learn and retain information by taking notes that reinforce lessons and help with recall. And guess what? Taking notes on a laptop or phone is not as effective as writing things down. Technology is everywhere and today's kids have no problem learning and working it, so why can't we give them a few hours of the day where they need to learn without technology?
All this is leading up to my thoughts on the recent baseball cheating scandal. I know it's not a popular take, but the whole thing is being handled all wrong, and it all stems from the fact that we can't make a stand and just say that technology doesn't belong in our sports. What did MLB think was going to happen when they started putting cameras in center field and monitors in the clubhouse? Just like the kids who use lessons that allow phones as an opportunity to check Facebook, of course someone was going to find a way to use replay monitors to steal signs.
Baseball players have been coming up with creative ways to steal signs since the game began. We aren't just talking guys on second seeing the catcher's fingers either. We're talking binoculars in the stands, mascots, and Walkie-Talkies. Heck, one of the most famous moments in the history of the game happened because a coach set up beyond center field with a telescope and an electric buzzer to relay catchers signs to the Giants bullpen. Sound familiar? {Side note: This has nothing to do with the point I am trying to make here but does factor into my thoughts on this whole thing. Read all the articles that I linked too and what do you notice about the tone? As much as people are getting upset about this now, baseball created a culture where sign stealing was a joke; it's a list of funny stories about the lengths people went to get a small advantage. I used to get books when I was a kid with titles like "Weird Tales From Baseball" or "50 Funniest Baseball Stories" and these were the stories inside. Manford says that there is no history of punishment for sign stealing. Yes, Rob, that's because the sport has determined that it isn't a serious crime. It is part of the game. It's not fair to end the careers of four men over something that has not been taken seriously up until this point.} This is who professional athletes are. They would never have gotten to the level of competition they have reached without a desire to be on top, without a need to win at any cost, without looking for every competitive edge they could find. Drugs, mind games, video taped practice, cameras on the catchers, it doesn't matter. It might not be right or ethical, but many of them are going to try.
So, why are we feeding the drug addicts more drugs? Why would we introduce technology into the game when we don't want it to be used to cheat? Manfred put the drugs in the house of an addict, told the addict not to use the drugs or else, and then punished the addict when he did exactly what everyone expected him to do. The players were being set up to fail. If I say take out your phones and research this author, I know that at least one of my students is going right to Snapchat. If I don't want that to happen, I don't tell them to use their phones. I could come up with a way to punish anyone who I find using social media, but its not going to stop the behavior from happening the next time I ask them to take out the phones.
We don't need video replay in our sports, just like we don't need phones in the classroom. We played the games for a century without it and the games went on. They started and ended without replay's help. And when there was a bad call people got upset, complained, and came back to watch more. I don't know one person who stopped watching baseball because Don Denkinger blew a call that cost a team a championship.

Or because Rich Garcia can't tell fan interference from a home run.

But, I do know people who have stopped watching football because it is no longer the same game as it was before they put in replay. Manfred told his students to take out their phones and then lost his mind when they did exactly what history and human nature tells us they were going to do.
An effective self-help mantra tells us we can only change the things we have control of. I don't have control over what my students do with their phones once I have allowed them into a lesson. If Manfred really wants to remove sign stealing from the game (which he can't, it's part of the game, it will always be there) he needs to remove the things that he has control of. Don't punish the players and managers and end people's careers. Get rid of the replay monitors in the clubhouse. Get rid of replay. It doesn't make the game better. And if those things aren't there, no one will be using them to steal signs.