Schools in Hooksett, New Hampshire recently finished participating in a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) pilot program for students. The BYOD program allows students to bring their personal electronic devices to school for academic purposes. The main concern is that there is no way to ensure students are not becoming distracted and using their devices for entertainment instead of education. Although students responded favorably to the program, a decision about its future has yet to be made.

School board members that are wary of the BYOD program recognize the need for personalized login information when students access the wireless network so their internet usage can be monitored. Of 95 fifth graders who said they used a device at school, 22 admitted that their devices were “occasionally,” “often,” or “frequently” distracting.

But are students only being distracted because they are allowed to bring their electronic devices to school? Probably not, when you consider that some students will even skip class to play games or access inappropriate material on their mobile devices. Four boys in Zambia were recently caught watching pornography on their phones when they should have been in school. This is a global issue.

Because unmonitored devices can cause kids to be distracted, it is vital that parental control monitoring software is present on mobile devices used by children. Inappropriate sites should be restricted and time controls can be set to ensure that a child's focus is always where it should be.

What are your thoughts about schools implementing Bring Your Own Device programs?

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.