Mitchell Rutherford, a biology teacher at Sahuaro High School in Tucson, is leaving his position after teaching for over a decade, saying it's because of his students addiction to their cell phones.
The 35-year-old has grown frustrated by the cellphone problem, which he believes got worse after schools closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemicl Since then, he believes "something shifted" in the kids.
“I was beginning to think I was the problem,” he told the newspaper, noting that students would tell him they did not care about their grades. At Sahuaro High School, teachers are left to enforce the school’s rule against cellphone use in class.
Before the pandemic shut down schools, Rutherford said students were more apt to obey their teachers when asked to put their phones away. Now, it is much more difficult.
Rutherford did what he could to try and curtail the problem, including setting up a “phone jail” in his room that was barely used, according to KVOA. He even tried to offer extra credit for limited phone use. Here's his story:
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