Traditionally, texting in schools has been as forbidden as gum, food or other disruptive influences.

A student who is engaged with their mobile device is likely not paying attention to their instructor, or at least not paying enough attention. Besides the distraction factor, texts have the potential to enable cheating, so it’s generally been a good practice to ban them in the classroom, if not the entire facility.

College campuses are a bit different in that most students are adults and hopefully follow the rules of decorum more than a K-12 student, but still classroom use is discouraged.

However, the popularity of texting and general mobile usage plus other factors such as student and staff safety have caused some schools to take another look at their policies. In some cases, not only are schools updating guidelines for sensible mobile phone use, they’re also getting into the texting business themselves, especially mass messages that can be sent simultaneously to the entire student body or staff.

Some of the reasons for the increase in mass text messaging services include:

• Safety.  Any reason where an alert needs to go out quickly could be ideal for bulk texting, such as a law enforcement situation, a natural disaster or even changing traffic conditions (icy roads, accidents). Students may not see an email or tune into TV or the radio at a particular moment.  But they likely will check their phones – they may even be using them when a notice comes through.  And even if someone’s phone may be off, there will likely be enough others nearby who can receive and relay the message. The bulk format can be quick, with no response needed – maybe a note to evacuate or a note to stay put.
  
  
• Increase in bullying. A downside of mobile phones has been that they increase the ability of students to torment other students after hours or even if they aren’t physically near each other. However, a school district in Maryland recently partnered with an IT company to allow students to anonymously text info to a certain number if they observe bullying or have other safety concerns. The information is relayed to school officials who can investigate further and also keep data as confidential as possible. If other districts follow suit with this program, mass texting could be used to promote the program and remind students of this sort of resource. Districts could also use bulk texting to send out other supportive messages and making students aware.
  
  
• Focus on retention. Schools continue to ponder ways to reduce the amount of students dropping out prior to graduation, and also increase the amount of student heading right from high school into college. EducationWeek said texting can be a useful ‘nudge’ where schools can apply a little bit of extra pressure that can encourage someone to take the leap from high school to college, or even to complete high school. A personalized text from a counselor, administrator or mentor would be ideal, but if this is logistically challenging, then a mass texting could serve the same purpose.
  
  
•  Publicize schedule changes. Parents and teachers know that there’s no sure-fire way to get information about what’s happening at school – kids may lose or forget hard copies or parents also may not check email regularly. A mass text that goes out regularly to parents could provide useful information about programs, critical dates, requirements, or anything out of the ordinary. Senders should be careful that it doesn’t become a regular message though – if people start to know to expect it each week, the less they’ll be interested in opening it and spending time reviewing its contents.
  
  
• Info for staff. The entire campus community is a perfect audience for bulk texts, such as in circumstances like safety concerns. But there also could be separate messages just for staff. Your larger list of “Everyone” could be broken down into “Staff,” or even “Staff and Faculty.” Bulk messages could include reminders of what’s coming up on campus that the workers might like to know – perhaps new parking rules, new programs being unveiled, or a joke about “the return of the students” in the fall.  Like the “everyone” group, this privilege can also be abused – if staff doesn’t feel like they see benefits from reading regular texts, it’s easy to delete them or block them without taking a look.
  
  

The reasons for texting may vary, but it is becoming a more welcome visitor on college and secondary campuses. Though there are still privacy and disruption concerns that should still be addressed about proper and improper classroom protocol, texting as a tool can make it quick and simple to connect to so many people at once. For more information about exploring SMS in schools, please visit www.trumpia.com.

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