essay on school bell

Hack Education: The History of the School Bell

• Computing, Technology, and Information Systems

I'd wager it's the most frequently told story about ed-tech — one told with more gusto and more frequency even than "computers will revolutionize teaching" and "you can learn anything on YouTube." Indeed, someone invoked this story just the other day when chatting with me about the current shape and status of our education system: the school bell was implemented to acclimate students for life as factory workers, to train them to move and respond on command, their day broken into segments of time dictated by the machine rather than the rhythms of pre-industrial, rural life.

It's a story that  seems  plausible. The bell is a technology associated with behavioral conditioning, after all — Pavlov and his salivating dogs. It is a technology that organizes the school, controlling both space and time. The bell sounds out the logic of the day: it's time for math. It's time for recess. It's time for reading. Finally, thank god, around 3 o'clock or so, it's time to go home. And at the end of the school year, when "schools out completely," as Alice Cooper sings, the children cheer with joy as the final bell rings, the bell and their voices warping as the classic song fades out — freed from, as John Taylor Gatto put it, "the barren experiences of school bells in a prison of measured time."  (1)

It should come as no surprise to close observers of  invented histories of education  that Gatto would have something to say (in almost all his books, in fact) about the tyranny of the bell. He was, after all, one of the most influential promoters of the " school-as-factory " narrative: that the origins of mass schooling are inextricably bound to the need to reshape a rebellious farming nation's sons and daughters into a docile, industrial workforce. It's a powerful, influential story, sure, but it's a pretty inaccurate history.

The bell also invokes another popular tale, often repeated by the same folks: the one in which schools haven't changed in hundreds of years. Some metal contraption still bangs in the hallways while the rest of the world has moved on to — gesturing widely — the digital. Need proof? Why, one can point to the fact that Alice Cooper's 1972 hit remains a popular, end-of-the-school-year anthem (as does "Another Brick in the Wall" which was also produced by Bob Erin who urged Pink Floyd to add a children's chorus as it was so successful in the Alice Cooper track. But I digress.) Surely this demonstrates how despicably moribund schools are, right?

Or at least, it shows how much we like stories about education that  feel  true — or maybe songs about education that make us feel like anti-establishment rebels.

Many institutions — not only schools and not only factories — have long used bells to mark beginnings and endings and important events. One can hardly point to the development of the mechanical clock and its connection to the strict observance of prayer times at monasteries and view the bell as a technology of liberation, no doubt. But one can perhaps reconsider citing John Taylor Gatto as your sole source of education history. (The guy called the people enslaved by Thomas Jefferson his "employees," for crying out loud.)

Bells, primarily handbells, have been a technology of school since their outset, well before "the factory" they were purportedly modeled on. They were used, as were the bells in churches, to summon students to ye old one room schoolhouse for the beginning of the day.

Architecture and Ed-Tech

The Common School movement that nineteenth century education reformer Horace Mann spearheaded (from roughly 1840-1880), advocating for the foundation of a public school system, did not just promote a common curriculum — an overt curriculum, that is, of reading, writing, and arithmetic or a covert curriculum of punctuality and obedience. It also advocated for the construction of standardized school  buildings , replacing the one-room schoolhouses in urban areas. (It's worth noting that, even into the 1910s, half of the students in the US remained enrolled in the country's 212,000 one-room schools.)  (2)  Mann recommended that communities invest in a bell for these buildings. "Where the expense can be afforded, every schoolhouse should be provided with a bell. If not the only mode, it is probably the best one for insuring punctuality; and the importance of punctuality can hardly be overstated."  (3)

The architecture of the school building informs the pedagogy that takes place therein — the same goes for the technologies that are implemented inside them.  And that includes the school bell.

But bells weren't simply — or even primarily — a technology of pedagogy as much as one for announcements and alarms. Although companies like the Standard Electric Time Company (founded in Massachusetts in 1884) sold synchronized clock and bell systems to schools (and yes, factories), an early function of the latter was not to mimic the rhythm of the workplace but rather to warn occupants about fire.

( Insurance Engineering  issued a widely-cited report in 1913, decrying the condition of some 250,000 schools in the US as "built to burn." "In 1911," the Moline, Illinois  Dispatch  worriedly detailed, "the value of school and college buildings destroyed by fire approximated $3,000,000. Estimates of the frequency of fires are as high as ten a week." (4)  The story, incidentally, blames the introduction of a new piece of ed-tech for many of the blazes: the film projector.)

Bells and Platoons

The ringing of the bell to signal the beginning and end of a class period, rather than just the beginning and end of the school day is often traced to William Wirt, who became superintendent of schools in Gary, Indiana in 1908. Wirt, a student of progressive educator John Dewey, devised a system in which, when the bell rang, students would move from room to room for instruction, not only in reading, writing, and arithmetic, but in music and shop, as well as time outdoors on a playground.

Generally, children had two ninety-minute periods or three hours a day in the basic subjects, and six thirty minute periods in special subjects the other three hours of the school day. Obviously to function effectively this scheme required a high degree of administrative planning and precision timing in the moving of children. This was particularly true if the schools were large, as they were at Gary, where some of them included all twelve grades and eventually had as many as 3,000 students."  (5)

Wirt called this the "work-study-play school," and Dewey praised the model in his 1915 book (co-written with daughter Evelyn)  Schools of Tomorrow :

The question [Wirt] tried to answer was this: What did the Gary children need to make them good citizens and happy and prosperous human beings, and how could the money available for educational purposes supply all these needs? The industrial features of his schools will be taken up later, but it may be well to point out in passing that they were not instituted to turn out good workers for the steel company, nor to save the factories the expense of training their own workers, but for the educational value of the work they involved. In the same way it would be a mistake to consider the Gary schools simply as an attempt to take the unpromising immi- grant child and turn him into a self-supporting immigrant, or as an attempt to meet the demand of an industrial class for a certain sort of training.  (6)

That John Dewey insisted what became known as the Gary Plan wasn't designed to condition students to become factory workers should maybe count for  something . Maybe? It doesn't mean, of course, that the system didn't have incredible appeal to those reformers in the early twentieth century who were determined to reshape public education into a more efficient endeavor. Indeed as Callahan argues in his classic  Education and the Cult of Efficiency , the Gary Plan was often showcased as an example of scientific management applied to schooling. But note: this was  not  because it trained children as workers but because it enabled a more efficient usage of the school  building . That schools were empty at nights and on weekends and certain classrooms unused during the day was such a waste of money to those reformers, who argued that schools needed to be run more like businesses, indeed more like factories. ("Keep the students in the buildings year round, dammit!")

While this push for reform was largely administrative — a financial endeavor — there were concerns among parents and educators at the time that this system would have pedagogical, if not broader cultural implications. In a 1924 article in the  New Republic  titled "The Factory System," Chicago teacher Margaret Haley decried the Gary Plan, also known as the "platoon school." (School bells as a technology training students for the military —  that's a Douglas Noble argument  right there.) Clearly, she argued, the Gary Plan was simply an effort to lower the cost of education by enrolling more students than classrooms could hold, "dumping" the excess onto the playground or into auditorium or cafeteria spaces, and rotating them rapidly through classrooms so that, as a result, teachers would have hundreds of pupils per day. The platoon school was "the factory system carried into the public school, which needs only the closing-time whistle to make complete its identification with the great industrial plants!"  (7)

Although the "platoon school" fell out of favor after 1930, with teachers and even some administrators decrying the Taylorization of education, the influence of efficiency-based reforms remained. Moreover, the adoption of the Carnegie Unit and the standardization of curricular requirements and teachers' workloads in the early twentieth century ha led to the adoption of a school schedule that appears, at least in some way, platoon-school-like: the day divided into 45-minute class periods.

This is a Public Service Announcement

But by and large, through much of the twentieth century, schools did  not  ring bells to move students from class to class, from room to room. Automated school bells, along with public announcement systems, were available but were not widely adopted until after World War II. Indeed, it was well into the 1960s that many schools finally wired every classroom up to an automated PA system so that the bell, rather than the teacher with an eye on the clock, dismissed class. (And in many communities, it was the PTA that led the fundraising for this bell equipment. You know the PTA, that bastion of bourgeois values so very committed to their children being trained by bells to become factory workers.)

That the ringing of the school bell was not part of some original and sinister strategy to habituate students for a life of labor doesn't mean the bell — like all technologies in or out of schools — didn't come with and be born from certain ideologies. But the school bell has a different, more complicated history than the "factory model schools" story tells it. It's worth understanding that history because to do so helps us understand the present and design the future. Schools haven't always or everywhere been modeled on factories, despite the efforts of business-minded reformers (still) to reshape them to that end for over a century. The bell hasn't always symbolized drudgery, and when it did signal compliance — and to be sure, it did — we need to think about what that expectation meant historically, not just rhetorically as we describe or decry education today. And don't even get me started on the phrase I've heard in some ed-tech circles, "cells and bells."

The history of education technology — and my rationale for writing  this series of essays  on the topic — should help us see the possibility for alternatives. Those who want us to forget (or mis-remember) the past are very much committed to our give up hope. Things weren't always this way; resistance is possible. That's all there's ever been, in fact —  change  — even with something as seemingly old and unchanging as the school bell.  

(1) John Taylor Gatto,  Weapons of Mass Instruction , 2009. p. 130.

(2) Jeffrey Lackney, "New Approaches for School Design."  The Sage Handbook of Educational Leadership , 2011. p. 356.

(3) Horace Mann, "Supplementary Report on the Subject of Schoolhouses." (1838).  Life and Works of Horace Mann , 1891. p. 486.

(4) "Local Schools in List of Dangerous."  The Dispatch , Moline, Illinois, 16 April 1913.

(5) Raymond Callahan.  Education and the Cult of Efficiency , 1962. p. 129.

(6) John and Evelyn Dewey.  Schools of Tomorrow , 1915. p. 176.

(7) Callahan, p. 146.

(8)  Archie , February 17, 1960.

This blog post has been shared by permission from the author. Readers wishing to comment on the content are encouraged to do so via the link to the original post. Find the original post here:

The views expressed by the blogger are not necessarily those of NEPC.

Audrey Watters

• Ask LitCharts AI
• Discussion Question Generator
• Essay Prompt Generator
• Quiz Question Generator

• Literature Guides
• Poetry Guides
• Shakespeare Translations
• Literary Terms

My Children! My Africa!

Athol fugard.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Mr. M ’s school bell represents the consistency, formality, and safety of the education system. This contrasts with the brutal, chaotic realities of the apartheid system and the anti-apartheid revolts that Black students face outside school. The bell first appears in the play’s opening scene, when Mr. M rings it to calm Thami and Isabel down during an unruly, passionate debate. Similarly, when Thami remembers his childhood, he starts by remembering the school bell, which he associates with the sense of confidence, safety, and hope that he has abandoned since getting involved in his community’s anti-apartheid protest movement. In both these cases, the bell symbolizes how school can impose a false sense of order and continuity on life, which is far messier and more complicated than it looks from inside a classroom. Thus, while the play portrays school as a safe place for children to explore ideas and grow, the bell also represents the idea that school can give people a false sense of routine and comfort in an otherwise difficult or intolerable situation.

At the end of the play, during the revolt in Brakwater , Mr. M still rings his school bell every morning, even though none of his students show up because they’re involved in the protests. Although Mr. M insists that he wants to bring the world “to its senses,” he clearly fails to understand his students’ new reality. By ringing the bell, he shows that he is stuck in his old routine and unable to accept South Africa’s new political circumstances. Indeed, in his final moments of life, Mr. M rings the school bell as he runs out into the angry mob that ends up killing him. Through this image, the play suggests that Mr. M dies in part because he failed to adapt his own values to South Africa’s fraught political climate at this time.

The School Bell Quotes in My Children! My Africa!

Mr. M alone in Number One Classroom. He is ringing his school bell wildly. MR. M: Come to school! Come to school. Before they kill you all, come to school!

Silence. Mr. M looks around the empty classroom. He goes to his table, and after composing himself, opens the class register and reads out the names as he does every morning at the start of a new school day.

Johnny Awu, living or dead? Christopher Bandla, living or dead? Zandile Cwati, living or dead? Semphiwe Dambuza…Ronald Gxasheka…Noloyiso Mfundweni…Steven Gaika…Zachariah Jabavu…Thami…Thami Mbikwana…

(Pause) Living or dead?

The School Bell Symbol Timeline in My Children! My Africa!

• Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

WCHS Insight

The Bell Doesn’t Dismiss You, I Do

March 11, 2015 41 Comments

The bell throughout all high schools has gone to symbolize freedom and tranquility. No matter the subject or time, when the bell rings, a sense of freedom and happiness kicks in and it automatically triggers a response that usually leads to a sudden rush to get out of the classroom as fast as possible.

A irritable type of behavior, although not apparent in all teachers, has been on the rise. This would be the idea that teachers dictate when class is and is not over. Often times this is followed by the phrase, “The bell doesn’t dismiss, you I do” with a John Wayne stare.

With this type of response and attitude, teachers are going to be asked the question, “Then what is the dang bell for then if it obviously doesn’t mean class is over?”

This argument often always happens and a heated debate is followed. In the end, the teachers do not dismiss the students the bell does. It would be like the teachers having a set time to leave, but students overrule that time and decide when it is necessary.

Teachers would not like this idea just like students do not like the idea of having a bell and no freedom. Granted, some students do need to be held back due to their behavior and lack of work, but this is high school. Not everyone is here to mess around; some students just want to get their classes done and get out.

In addition some students may have a job and need to be out of class quicker to beat traffic. Or a student wants to beat everyone to get his lunch so he could go to his sports meeting. There are many different reasons why students deserve to leave when the bell rings.

When someone gets arrested officers do not punish innocent citizens for being there, instead they help and protect them. If an officer doesn’t punish innocent citizens, then why should a teacher keep a whole class back at lunch or any period when only specific people acted up. Not all students cause a problem or disruption, and will ultimately pay the price for something they did not do or take part in. If a student simply walks out the class after the bell rings he/she is not breaking any rules and they are simply doing what the bell means, c lass is over you may leave.

With the simple adjustment of teachers not telling students when they can leave, and not punishing everyone for one student’s action, students and teachers will be happy.

Comments (41)

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sawyer Nabors • Dec 5, 2023 at 1:17 pm

I am doing a EAST project about bell dismissal and I think that the teacher does not dismiss you the bell does because kids need to have time to get to class.

alex commings • Sep 24, 2021 at 5:38 am

the teacher does not dismiss you the bell does in happens in middle school to it is so anoying when she says wait then 5 min later we get to leave and i get detention it is so stupid just let us leave like we have school.teachers dont control time only god can.

Morbintime • Jan 26, 2023 at 9:42 pm

I imagine some worn out teachers who feel inadequacy in life, use that as an excuse to gain control. “I control your life! Me!” As if they actually do.

I’ve seen it and I imagine every other student has at least once as well. It’s so strange.

Maybe if teachers were paid more and were treated like their jobs were important they wouldn’t get these feelings. Idk I’m no expert.

Jayden Richard • Jan 21, 2021 at 6:48 am

I think it’s fair to leave class when the bell rings, if them taking the class into overtime means you get a tardy for something you had no control over then I think it is fair. Most schools have a policy where if you get more than a certain number of tardies, you get ISS or detention. If I was ever in this situation, I would prefer to leave when the bell rings so I wouldn’t end up having to sit in detention because a teacher is bad at time management and seems to take it out on his/her students. Now if you get in trouble and the teacher wants to talk to you, that’s a different story. If you got in trouble, then you should have to stay back and hear what the teacher wants to say to you. Even though, just because you end up staying back to talk with the teacher doesn’t mean that other students should have to wait as well. I mean, what’s the point of holding the specific student and the rest of the children who were not involved back after the bell, you wanted to talk to the student in private, so why hold all the other students back. Although, leaving class when the teacher tells you not to could sort of change how the teacher sees you in terms of your ability to listen when given instructions. In my opinion, if you have a reason to leave right at the bell like your class is on the other side of the building, then you should to avoid getting tardy.

......... • Nov 10, 2020 at 11:37 am

Yeah, DR HENRY

Ghost • Oct 29, 2020 at 2:58 pm

Thanks I wish I could of showed this to my last year math teacher, but instead I’ll show this to any teacher I have because I tend to not to be late for class, and to be honest this was a relief. Though I can only imagine the rage after I show my teachers ;-;

Sam • Jun 11, 2020 at 2:48 pm

My teacher would regularly keep us after the bell rang. My next class was on the other side of the building so I would literally have to run to get there on time. I brought this up to both teachers and they said I needed to manage my time better. After my 2nd tardy I started just walking out as soon as the bell rang.

Drew • May 8, 2020 at 4:29 pm

It’s just illogical and harebrained for teachers to resort to this tactic. Don’t they know that students go to more than one class a day? Unless it’s violent or incredibly egregious, i don’t care WHAT the students in question did, it’s not a good excuse to waste their time and make them late to their next class for something that not every person did! “bUt bEInG lATe tO tHeIR nExT cLaSs iS tHeIr pRoBleM!” I don’t think so! If you are qualified to be an educator responsible for disciplining kids, you should be able to come up with a punishment that doesn’t affect them in their their other classes and only affects those who actually did what you’re punishing them for!

Zedrei Balane • Apr 21, 2020 at 1:50 pm

*bell rings* Teacher: OH WAIT WAIT, the bell does not dismiss you, I, dismiss you, Me; Not Mr. Davin, the bell doesn’t dismiss me, it dismisses you

Joey2tones • Apr 16, 2020 at 5:38 am

Man you children that get held back by a teacher need to stand up for yourselves. First day of class on my senior day this teacher tried to keep us after the bell. I stood up and grabbed my stuff, she told me that the bell doesn’t release you that she does and that’s how it is in the real world. I told her off, told her how she knows nothing about the real world, she went from public school to college then back to public school to teach. Told her I was going to the real world and go work to go pay my real world bills. Next time I come to class she could either teach me her course, or be petty and not teach me and have me switch classes. Goodbye.

Emma • Mar 9, 2020 at 5:00 pm

I am writing an article based on the problems of the school. Thank you for this. It’s amazing!!!!!!!!!

madison • Feb 27, 2020 at 10:30 am

I Think that taechers are never ever allowed to dismiss you with there words EVER! AND SAME THING GOES WITH THE CELLPHONE POLLICE IF U WANT MY PHONE OR U TAKE IT WITHOUT MY PERMISSION IMMA COUNT TO 10 AND IF ITS NOT IN MY HAND IMMA BEAT U UP OR CALL THE POLICE!.

caratina • Feb 27, 2020 at 6:42 am

Why is there even a bell if teachers dismiss you???!!!!???

Someone • Feb 24, 2020 at 12:38 pm

In my class I got held back for five minutes and it caused me to miss my friend that I walk with and if it happens again on Thursday I have to get to a different state and I will say that I need to be in a different state by 5:00 and this is literally illegal to keep me here so if you don’t let me go I will call the cops for keeping students after school without permission

Malai • Feb 18, 2020 at 8:13 pm

If the bell doesn’t dictate when I can leave class it can’t dictate if I’m late to class. My science teacher held my whole class in for 1t minutes after the bell and then didn’t write any of us any passes so we couldn’t be excused for missing a part of class.

Braden • Feb 12, 2020 at 10:03 pm

Honestly I’m going to bring this up the next time my teacher does this and if he argues with me I’ll just tell him off and walk out

richard • Feb 11, 2020 at 7:00 am

i am just going to walk out of class then because now i know my rights

Lucy • Feb 11, 2020 at 4:58 am

My math teacher does this sometimes which STINKS because my next class is literally on the other side of the stinkin school

madyson • Feb 5, 2020 at 7:14 am

the bell rings when the given/limited time the teachers have is up. therefore, i will leave the class to be tortured by another teacher for another hour of my 8 hour long day. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

cosi • Jan 7, 2020 at 6:13 am

wiwi thats my truth

Ashley • Dec 13, 2019 at 12:17 pm

My German teacher did this today, and he often does this. I have orchestra after his class, and to get to the orchestra room we have to exit the building and go to a whole different building. All within four minutes. It’s ridiculous for teachers to hold back students after class because THEY are not good at time management. He always says “Wait! You can’t leave until I say you can!” And today he made us stay two minutes after class to watch another students project when even that student wanted to leave. That left all of us in orchestra only two minutes to get to the orchestra room, unpack, and get in the tuning line.

Andrew Wolford • Dec 2, 2019 at 12:02 pm

This wierd The bell never dismisses me ever

daniel rosales • Oct 10, 2019 at 7:19 am

why does my teacher keep me in after the bell then cause last week they held us in about 15 mins it was stupid cause i got iss for being late to my other class

Leo • Oct 10, 2019 at 4:00 am

I think collective punushment like this happens to often and should not go unnoticed

dakas • Oct 8, 2019 at 6:15 pm

the bell dismisses you

bob • Oct 2, 2019 at 8:38 am

please send this to the teachers in the school dristrict of oswego(308)

daddy • Sep 27, 2019 at 6:39 am

its not right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MathTeacher • Sep 16, 2019 at 10:07 am

YOU WHAT! Your saying that I can’t keep my students after class! No I dissmiess them I keep the hostage.

-Math teacher- I’m fired bu-but how. 🙁

-Me- You know what you did crazy B****.

YeetMasterG1 • Sep 16, 2019 at 10:04 am

Hmm thanks now I can leave the classroom without my math teacher keeping us hostage to punish one student.

Jason Xie • Sep 10, 2019 at 11:51 am

But it is illegal for teachers to keep the class after the bell as a punishment. It violates the Geneva Convection’s laws on collective punishment.

saverio san lorenzo • Sep 5, 2019 at 8:56 am

Ok, i go to a private school. Is a teacher allowed to keep us after the bell if I go to a private school.

etta • Sep 3, 2019 at 6:19 pm

What is the best way to tell this to a teacher considering, they could get you in trouble for disrespect or backtalk if this is brought up?

bellalina • Jun 5, 2019 at 8:20 am

I completely agree with this article, legaly teachers are not allowed yo keep students after the bell.

jorge • May 29, 2019 at 1:46 pm

this does give me anything

james • May 20, 2019 at 5:24 am

i think this article good . i like it alot .

bob • May 8, 2019 at 12:55 pm

did you know when the bell The bell throughout all high schools has gone to symbolize freedom and tranquility. No matter the subject or time, when the bell rings, a sense of freedom and happiness kicks in and it automatically triggers a response that usually leads to a sudden rush to get out of the classroom as fast as possible.

A irritable type of behavior, although not apparent in all teachers, has been on the rise. This would be the idea that teachers dictate when class is and is not over. Often times this is followed by the phrase, “The bell doesn’t dismiss, you I do” with a John Wayne stare.

Teachers would not like this idea just like students do not like the idea of having a bell and no freedom. Granted, some students do need to be held back due to their behavior and lack of work, but this is high school. Not everyone is here to mess around; some students just want to get their classes done and get out.

When someone gets arrested officers do not punish innocent citizens for being there, instead they help and protect them. If an officer doesn’t punish innocent citizens, then why should a teacher keep a whole class back at lunch or any period when only specific people acted up. Not all students cause a problem or disruption, and will ultimately pay the price for something they did not do or take part in. If a student simply walks out the class after the bell rings he/she is not breaking any rules and they are simply doing what the bell means, class is over you may leave.

With the simple adjustment of teachers not telling students when they can leave, and not punishing everyone for one student’s action, students and teachers will be happy.

John • May 2, 2019 at 4:49 pm

It is true teachers are dumb to not let us out after the bell they should be truthful and let us leave like they always say

tanya • May 2, 2019 at 6:16 am

I feel its illegal to keep kids after the bell because they have to get to class and be prepared.

westwood middle school • Apr 26, 2019 at 8:42 am

this is so true right a response if you agree

grace • Apr 2, 2019 at 12:09 pm

my teacher told me to spit out my gum aftor the bell and i said” no you have no power over me aftor the bell” the teacher often holds us in past the bell to clean and we almoast miss our busses and im fed up! and now im wondering is it technecly leagle to do that or not?

willow • Oct 9, 2018 at 2:35 pm

my son got told if he walked out the door to go home he would of got RPC so now my son can show them this and walk out with out getting i trouble

Ringing in a New School Year

With the arrival of September, students are back in the classroom. For many students throughout the decades, the school bell has signaled the beginning or end of the school day or class period. Let’s take a trip back in time, via this trade catalog , to learn more about late 19th Century bells.

This trade catalog is entitled Steel Alloy Church and School Bells (circa 1891) by C. S. Bell & Co. The company manufactured bells of a cast steel alloy and crystal metal (a material “peculiar” to C.S. Bell & Co). Their bells included school, church, farm, factory, and fire alarm bells. Let’s focus on the school bells.

What is the purpose of the school bell? One purpose is to announce the beginning of the school day. As explained in the catalog, this was especially important in some areas because “clocks of a neighborhood or village may vary a half hour or more” meaning some students arrived late to school. In those cases, the ringing of a school bell functioned, in a way, as a clock, so that students knew exactly when to arrive at school.

The No. 26 Steel Alloy Bell was the company’s most popular school bell at the time. Just the bell, without the mountings, weighed 220 pounds, and it measured 36 inches high with a diameter of 26 inches across the mouth of the bell. Though it was recommended for schools and factories and not suitable for churches, the customer testimonials in this catalog show that some churches also used this particular bell.

Much of this catalog consists of customer testimonials, either replies to inquiries by the company or letters written voluntarily. Some testimonials, such as this one, note how many miles away the bell could be heard. Joseph Custer of Goshen, Ohio wrote in January 1883:  “The No. 6 bell, 26-inch, I bought of you for District No. 12, Goshen Tp., is given up to be the best school-bell in this country. It can be heard three to four miles very distinctly. For clearness of tone, I will say, without fear of contradiction, it cannot be equaled.”

C. S. Bell & Co. changed the numbers of their bells in 1887, so the No. 6 bell, mentioned in the 1883 testimonial above, became No. 26 in 1887. This change was due to the addition of new bell sizes. The new number was more than just a number. It referred to the diameter of the bell in inches, as well.

A few more of C. S. Bell & Co.’s farm, school, and church bells are shown above. Steel Alloy Church and School Bells (circa 1891) by C. S. Bell & Co. is located in the Trade Literature Collection at the National Museum of American History Library .

Categories: Collection Highlights History and Culture Trade Literature

• C. S. Bell & Co.
• National Museum of American History Library
• NMAH Library
• school bells
• trade literature

One Comment

I have 2 Goulds MFG One is no 33 ant the other is no 28 even though it measures 30 inches

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Paragraph on Ringing of School Bell –by Jenny

Introduction:

Every school has a bell and the sound of bell after each period is either dreaded or looked forward to depending on the next hour of the day.

Without bells in schools, it is quite difficult to maintain an order of the class hours and recess timings and to have a control on these; the sound of a bell is the best way.

How are bells important in schools?

From morning till the class ends, every hour is managed by bells and there are different tones for bells introduced so that children would understand as what was the purpose of the bell that was rung. Morning, bells would be rung, for gathering into classrooms and lining up for the morning assembly. Once the assembly is over a single bell would indicate that it is time for classes to begun, after every period, a bell would be rung to indicate that the particular hour is done for the day and the next hour would be beginning shortly.

Double bells are rung during intervals, so that students understand that the bells are for recess, refreshing and having food. At the end of the day, a long bell is rung which indicates that the day in school is done and it`s time to be at home. In case there is anything else to be let known to the students in between, a bell would be rung and announcements would be made. Bells are very much important in every schools across the globe as the sound of the bell brings in proper schedule and timing for each activity.

Conclusion:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

The stroke of each bell is crucial and it in fact implements a kind of discipline to the students in their school activities and makes them get used to time management and make things get done within a specified time limit. Bells are very crucial during examinations and tests, which gives them an idea when to start and stop their work and how to manage the required things within the specified time limit. Hence a bell is the most important tool in a school and it is one that manages time and brings in discipline, though nobody actually understands or realizes it.

Related Articles:

• Paragraph on School during the Recess – by Jenny
• Paragraph on Recess Period of My School- by Silki
• Paragraph on Our Morning Assembly- by Anand
• Short Paragraph on My School (422 Words)

45,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today

Meet top uk universities from the comfort of your home, here’s your new year gift, one app for all your, study abroad needs, start your journey, track your progress, grow with the community and so much more.

Verification Code

An OTP has been sent to your registered mobile no. Please verify

Thanks for your comment !

Our team will review it before it's shown to our readers.

• School Education /

Essay on My First Day in School: Sample in 100, 200, 350 Words

• Updated on  
• Jan 23, 2024

Essay on My First Day in School: The first day of school is often considered an important day in every child’s life. It is a time of a mix of emotions, like nervousness, excitement, homesickness, feelings of shyness, and likewise. But did you know these feelings are responsible for making our day memorable?

As children, we all are like a blank canvas, easily dyed into any colour. Our first day in school is like a new world to us. As a child, we all have experienced those feelings. So, to make you feel nostalgic and refresh those special feelings, we have brought some samples of essay on my first day in school.

Quick Read: Essay on Best Friend

Table of Contents

• 1 Essay on My First Day in School in 100 words
• 2 Essay on My First Day in School Sample in 200 Words
• 3 Essay on My First Day in Day in School in 350 Words
• 4 FAQs 

Essay on My First Day in School in 100 words

It was a cloudy day when I took my first step into the compound of my school. I was carrying a new backpack that was filled with notebooks. Though the backpack was a bit heavy, instead of focusing on the weight, I was excited about the beginning of my journey on my first day in school.

My classroom was at the end of the corridor. As I entered my classroom, my class teacher introduced me to the class and made me feel welcome. Activities like reading, solving problems in groups, and sharing our lunch boxes slowly and steadily transformed the new student with a sense of belonging.

The whole day progressed with mixed excitement as well as emotions. As the bell rang, declaring the end of the school day, the school felt like a world of possibilities where the journey was more than textbooks.

To improve your essay writing skills, here are the top 200+ English Essay Topics for school students.

Essay on My First Day in School Sample in 200 Words

It was a sunny day and the sun was shining brightly. With my new and attractive backpack, I was moving through the school gate. It was my first day in school and I was filled with nervousness and excitement. From the tower of the building to the playground everything was bigger than life. As a school student, I was about to enter a new world. 

The corridor was filled with the echo of students. As I entered the classroom, wearing a mix of curiosity and excitement, my classmates and class teacher welcomed me with a warm smile. After a round of introductions and some warm-up activities, strangers gradually started tuning into potential friends. At lunchtime, the cafeteria was filled with the smell of delicious food. However, I hesitated before joining the group of students but soon enough, I was laughing with my new friends and sharing stories. The unfamiliar were now my friends and transformed my mixed emotions into delightfulness. 

The bell rang for the next class and I stepped out for new learning in my new academic home. My first day of school had many memorable stories, with old subjects and new introductions of knowledge. The day was spent learning, sharing and making new memories. 

Also Read: Essay on Joint Family in 500+ words in English  

Essay on My First Day in Day in School in 350 Words

My first day in school started by stepping onto the school bus with a bag full of books and a heart full of curiosity. It was like I was starting a new chapter in my life. After travelling a long way back, I stepped at the gate of my school. The school gate welcomed me with open arms and greeted me with a sense of excitement as well as nervousness.

As I entered the classroom, I found many new faces. Arranging my stuff on the seat, I sat next to an unknown, who later on turned into the best friend of my life. I entered my class with a welcoming smile, and later on, I turned everything in with ease. During our lunchtime, the cafeteria was filled with the energy of students. 

At first, I hesitated to interact with the children, but later on, I was a part of a group that invited me to join the table. At lunchtime, I made many new friends and was no longer a stranger. After having delicious food and chit-chatting with friends, we get back to our respective classrooms. Different subjects such as mathematics, science, and English never left the same impact as they did on the first day of school. 

The teacher taught the lessons so interestingly that we learned the chapter with a mix of laughter and learning. At the end of the day, we all went straight to the playground and enjoyed the swings. Moreover, in the playground, I also met many faces who were new to the school and had their first day in school, like me.

While returning home, I realised that my first day was not just about learning new subjects; it was about making new friends, sailing into new vibrant classrooms, and settling myself as a new student. The morning, which was full of uncertainty at the end of the day, came to an end with exciting adventures and endless possibilities. With new experiences, I look forward to new academic and personal growth in the wonderful world of education.

Also Read: How to Prepare for UPSC in 6 Months?

Also Read: Trees Are Our Best Friend Essay

My first day of school was filled with mixed feelings. I was nervous, homesick, and excited on the first day at my school.

While writing about the first day of school, I share my experience of beginning my journey from home. What were my feelings, emotions, and excitement related to the first day of school, and how did I deal with a whole day among the unknown faces, these were some of the things I wrote in my first day of school experience essay. 

The first day of school is important because, as a new student, we manage everything new. The practice of managing everything is the first step towards self-responsibility.

Along with studying my favourite subjects, I share fun moments and delicious foods with my friends in school. 

Parents are filled with emotions on the first day of their child. As school is the place to gain knowledge, skills, and experience, parents try their best to give their children the best academics they can.

Related Blogs

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Deepika Joshi

Deepika Joshi is an experienced content writer with educational and informative content expertise. She has hands-on experience in Education, Study Abroad and EdTech SaaS. Her strengths lie in conducting thorough research and analysis to provide accurate and up-to-date information to readers. She enjoys staying updated on new skills and knowledge, particularly in the education domain. In her free time, she loves to read articles, and blogs related to her field to expand her expertise further. In her personal life, she loves creative writing and aspires to connect with innovative people who have fresh ideas to offer.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Contact no. *

Connect With Us

45,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. take the first step today..

Resend OTP in

Need help with?

Study abroad.

UK, Canada, US & More

IELTS, GRE, GMAT & More

Scholarship, Loans & Forex

Country Preference

New Zealand

Which English test are you planning to take?

Which academic test are you planning to take.

Not Sure yet

When are you planning to take the exam?

Already booked my exam slot

Within 2 Months

Want to learn about the test

Which Degree do you wish to pursue?

When do you want to start studying abroad.

January 2024

September 2024

What is your budget to study abroad?

How would you describe this article ?

Please rate this article

We would like to hear more.

Have something on your mind?

Make your study abroad dream a reality in January 2022 with

India's Biggest Virtual University Fair

Essex Direct Admission Day

Why attend .

Don't Miss Out

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

School Bell Letter

Related Papers

International Review of Qualitative Research

Yvette Solomon

In this paper we explore one school's reinvention of itself as ensuring that every student could take full control of his or her learning. Located in a predominantly working-class area, the school has moved to a thematic curriculum, strong reliance on technology, major spatial change towards ‘mini schools’, and student self-management of learning. Drawing on Bourdieusian concepts, we examine through interviews with students and staff how much these changes have contributed to underlying transformational change in the educational habitus of the school's members. We analyse the discourses drawn on by the various players in terms of their changing roles within redrawn teacher-student relationships and new positionings with respect to student autonomy and self-management of learning. Taking into account the external constraints of national testing, accountability, and school competition, we found examples of students’ recognition and critique of residual power structures in thei...

journal.au.edu

Elizabeth Onwuka

A PROJECT PROPOSAL-AN ELECTRIC BELL

Kibiti Shadrack

Communication, which is the life blood of all human activities, the assimilation of communication technology is of great importance. The development of communication technology in any nation makes communication technology easy and pleasant. And one of basic building blocks of a communication system is the electronic bell indicating which serves as inter-call light to ensure proper communication within an officer or domestic. An electronic bell can be defined as a mechanical or electronic bell that functions by means of an electromagnet. When an electric current is applied, it produces a repetitive buzzing, clanging or ringing sound. The device is classified according to types, mode of operation and the application. There are numerous types of alarming signals but for the purpose of this project, an electric bell with a light indicator is considered. This device receives its input signal from an electrical device known as bell push. It is connected to the wing board via a joint box. The signal (current) passes through the wire and feeds into the bell which causes the bell to ring in order to alert the receiver. In most wired systems, a button on the outside next to the door, located around the height of the doorknob, activates a signaling device (usually a chime, bell, or buzzer) inside the building. Pressing the electronic bell button, a single-pole switch momentarily closes the doorbell circuit. One terminal of this button is wired to a 3 terminal transformer. A doorbell transformer steps down the 240-volt AC electrical power to a lower voltage, typically 10 to 20 volts.

Mojca Kovačič

Through the analytical approach of studying official and perception-related discourse on bell ringing I accentuate the complexity of aspects that the sound of church bell presents in contemporary society. I point out the misleading officially defined level of noise nuisance and reveal how, when and why bell ringing is perceived as a positive or negative part of the acoustic environment. The study argues for a holistic approach to the noise nuisance issues, still much underestimated in the official discourse, that co-create our everyday soundscape.

Ardan N Asady , Ardan Nizma Asady

Nowaday, the school schedule is getting more busier than ever because new curriculum is being applied by the goverment through the nation. All school must apply this new curriculum. It demands school to serve education in more academic way. To support teaching and learning activity in school, the bell becomes a part of fundamental key, it helps both teachers and students to remind about their schedule. In this paper the author himself whose occuppation is a school staff points that the old fashioned method of manual human triggered school bell tends to be less accurate as human error factor might still present and demands more fund for the staff payrollment itself. Besides, such task sometimes deliver boredom to whom assigned to responsible for the bell alert. To solve this problem the school needs to apply automatic bell controlled by electronic instrument. To build the instrument, author will use a PC and Microsoft Visual Basic 6.o to design and build required program. In larger field usage, this program can help school especially those with much parallel class to ensure the lesson schedule to be carried out correctly on time to achieve outstanding performance according to new curriculum.

Habiyaremye Joseph

At the end or starting of each time slot, LabVIEW will generate a signal through Arduino microcontroller which is interfaced to a Zigbee transceiver and this Zigbee will transmit this information to a second remote Zigbee which is interfaced to an AC bell through a MOSFET and Relay. The time duration for the bell to ring is defined in LabVIEW itself. The connection of Arduino to LabVIEW requires a plug in called LIFA (LabVIEW interface for Arduino) .The Zigbee transceiver are configured by help of X-CTU,TMFT or any other Terminal software by using AT commands (Zigbee series 2 are used).The Zigbee modules are configured in IO scheme; network scheme also can be used if some other controls are added to the system. This project, an installer can be done for easy distribution. This project can even be used in colleges and universities as well as in some companies

Charlotte Magnusson

Educational Studies

Walter Gershon

Walter Gershon , Peter Appelbaum

Call for papers for a special issue of Educational Studies: A Journal of the American Educational Studies Association

Using hearing products or FM/digital hearing systems is one of the most efficient ways of improving the hearing situation in a classroom for a hearing impaired student. But is a technical solution the only way of improving the sound situation in a classroom? This white paper will tell more about the results from a study where working memory has been tested in different situations; using hearing products only, making acoustic regulations only and finally using hearing products in an acoustic regulated classroom .

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

RELATED PAPERS

Serena Zanolla

2017 International Symposium on Computers in Education (SIIE)

Alexandra Souza

Jurnal Teknik Mesin Mechanical Xplore

RIZKA ANGGIA DINDA

Boni Wozolek

ICSD 2016 BOOK OF PROCEEDINGS

Ozan Soyupak

Muhammad Syarul Annas

pixel-online.net

Pedro De Bruyckere

European Educational Research Journal

Theodora Papatheodorou

Joakim Landahl

Nasia Therapontos

Markus Cslovjecsek

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

David Lubman

Silvia Murgia

… of the International Workshop on E-services …

Katarina Lindblad-gidlund

… , citizenship and social …

Sarah Freedman

Jazzie Algar

Michael; Leonard Lubiano

MemoriaMedia: RITUALS – PRACTICES, PLACES and OBJECTS

Andréa M Diogo , Patrícia Gonçalves , Joana Isabel Duarte , Marisa Pereira Santos

Virna Margetan

SR Vol.57(07) [July 2020]

Preeti Lata

Greg Niemeyer

Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry

ekrem bahçekapılı

Matt Ballou

John H. Arnold , Caroline Goodson

Personal and …

Cliff Randell

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

English Essay on “The Last Bell at School” English Essay-Paragraph-Speech for Class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 CBSE Students and competitive Examination.

The Last Bell at School

It’s half past three in the afternoon and my friends and I are peering out of the window anxiously. In another five minutes, the peon will walk past our classroom and hit the gong at the end of the corridor to signal the end of school for today.

This is the moment we have been waiting for all afternoon. In school, the last bell means different things to different people. To the students it means the time to go back home. To the teachers, it means the time to correct hooks and ponder on what to teach the next day. For the support staff, it is the time to start cleaning the school premises.

For me, the last bell is the time when I change into my football shoes and head for football practice. This is my favourite part of school. I am the captain of my school football team. Even though we have football coaching only three times a week I stay back every day to practice my shots. I am working very hard because my coach says I am in line for the ‘Best Player of the Year award!

Our final match of the tournament is scheduled for next month. I am going to practice as much as I can till then; as I want our team to win the cup and make our school proud.

Related Posts

Absolute-Study

Hindi Essay, English Essay, Punjabi Essay, Biography, General Knowledge, Ielts Essay, Social Issues Essay, Letter Writing in Hindi, English and Punjabi, Moral Stories in Hindi, English and Punjabi.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Website Inauguration Function.
• Vocational Placement Cell Inauguration
• Media Coverage.
• Certificate & Recommendations
• Privacy Policy
• Science Project Metric
• Social Studies 8 Class
• Computer Fundamentals
• Introduction to C++
• Programming Methodology
• Programming in C++
• Data structures
• Boolean Algebra
• Object Oriented Concepts
• Database Management Systems
• Open Source Software
• Operating System
• PHP Tutorials
• Earth Science
• Physical Science
• Sets & Functions
• Coordinate Geometry
• Mathematical Reasoning
• Statics and Probability
• Accountancy
• Business Studies
• Political Science
• English (Sr. Secondary)

Hindi (Sr. Secondary)

• Punjab (Sr. Secondary)
• Accountancy and Auditing
• Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology
• Automobile Technology
• Electrical Technology
• Electronics Technology
• Hotel Management and Catering Technology
• IT Application
• Marketing and Salesmanship
• Office Secretaryship
• Stenography
• Hindi Essays
• English Essays

Letter Writing

• Shorthand Dictation

Essay on “The Recess Period in a school” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Essay No. 01

The Recess Period in a school

The recess period in school presents a very lively scene. After the captivity of four periods, the students get a chance of going out of the classroom. Most of the students behave exactly in the same way as prisoners coming out of a prison do their faces beam with joy when they roam about hand in hand on the ground adjoining the school. Some of the younger students go wild with join when the recess bell rings. They begin to thump the desks and shout violently standing in groups on the lawns of the school. They talk about their lessons and the teachers reaching them. Some of them do not like talking about school when they should refresh themselves. That is why I like it. It is situated in an open place. The building is fine with big airy rooms. The school has two large playgrounds, a library, and a laboratory. A hostel is also attached to it. The strength of the students is nearly one thousand. The principal and the teachers are trained and qualified. The weaker of the two is generally cried down. Just then the P.T.I. appears on the scene and he carries them to the Principal’s office where they are punished. Outside the school, there are hawkers selling Chat, Chhole, and Kuliches. There, too, you find students flocking around them.

Essay No. 2

The Recess Period In My School

Recess means a period of relaxation. It comes after four periods of continuous study. So everybody likes it after hard work. The recess period comes usually in the middle of the school hours. Its object is to allow some time to the teachers and the taught to refresh themselves mentally and physically.

Sometimes, before the recess period,. The student feels bored. They become inattentive to the lessons. They no longer follow the teachers. They grow tired of their lessons. They look forward to the recess period. Some of the naughty boys approach the school peon and ask him to ring the bell. All this shows that change is badly needed.       

As soon as the recess bell goes, all the boys shut their books and put them in their bags. They go out. This action of the boys sometimes makes the teacher angry. But they cannot help it. They want to be free for some time. They wish to remain away from the dull atmosphere of the class.

When the students come out of their classrooms, they relax themselves in different ways. The boys of rich families enjoy nice things- sweets, fruit, or mil which their parents send for them. The boys belonging to middle-class families eat some cheap things, which they buy from the hawkers, who reach school by the time of recess period. The poor boys generally bring food and eat it in the classrooms. Some schools have canteens. No hawker is allowed in the campus. We get tea, fruit, and other things in the canteen. Rates are fixed. Seats are neat and clean.

Having satisfied their hunger for recreation boys sit in groups and talk about many things. Sometimes the subject of their talk is some teacher whom they hate. At other times, it is some unpopular boy. At times, however, they talk of politics. The students of lower classes play with balls in the playground. Very often they use their time in laughing and merry-making. Some weak or absent students complete their homework.

As soon as the recess period is over, the happy mood of the students goes away. They become serious again. They run to their classrooms, lest they should be late, because they have their second attendance.

The recess period has become a regular feature in everyday life. These days there is an interval of half an hour in almost all offices. Nearly all the shops in the towns also enjoy lunchtime.

In winter, some institutions have two recesses – one short and the other long. The first break is given after two periods and the second after the fifth period to enjoy the recess period depending on the nature and need of the student. He can go either to the canteen or to the library. The main motto is how to refresh for further study.

Essay No. 3

Recess Period

Freedom is loved by all. Everyone likes to be free. It is, therefore , that the recess period in school is a great welcome to students as well as teachers. After working for four periods they require some rest and relax. The recess period fills them with new energies for the next four periods. It is from the beginning of fourth period, both the students and teachers wait for the recess anxiously. 

As soon as the bell goes, everyone in the school takes a sigh of relief and comfort. The calm and quiet atmosphere of school is broken by student’s shouts  of joy. They rush out of their classes of the school gate or school canteen or to the playground with football or cricket bat in hand. Still some others whose homes are nearby rush to their homes to enjoy the tea. Everywhere in school compound students laugh and talk with one another joyfully either discussing about a teacher or any recent experience. So they all feel relieved from the strict discipline of the classroom.

There is a lot of hustle and bustle in every corner of the school except the classrooms. The library and the reading room is full of students. The canteen is the busiest place. Every student seems to be so hungry that he wants to grapple with anything whatever he is able to catch hold of. There is a heavy rush at the water coolers and the water- taps.

This is also a time for bookworms to revise to revise their lessons again and the sports–loving trying new techniques in their favourite sports. the sports teachers keep busy with the aspirant participants in the competition games and the same is the case with the music lovers who listen to their favourite music in the music room and take special advice from their seniors.

It also a time to make new friends with the juniors and strengthen relations with the old ones and also talk incessantly about the new movies and serials, actors and actresses, new goods and restaurants.

In recess period the teachers also relax. The staff room is overcrowded and full of noise and mingling voices of the teachers. Some of the teachers take the  refreshment in the  form of tea or coffee. While others are engaged in gossiping or discussing politics or a recent cricket match. The teachers too enjoy the recess period like students.

The recess period comes to an end with the ringing of the call bell. All the students run to their classes. Within a few minutes the whole compound is again deserted. The teachers too, go to their respective classes and once again it is all calm and quite in the school.

Essay No. 04

The Recess Period

As in all schools, the recess period in our school is considered a very important period by the students.

Our school starts at 9.00 am. and is off at 3.00 pm. The recess period occurs from 12 noon to 12.40 pm. which means that it is held almost in the middle of the study period.

After almost half the study period is over, the students feel somewhat tired and even bored. They need some respite from hard lessons and also require some entertainment and refreshments.

As soon as the recess bell goes, the students rush out of their classes. Most of them rush towards the canteen. Many of them have Tiffin’s in their hands. The students take tea or some cold drinks and eatables in the canteen.

 It is obvious that then there is a great rush in the canteen. Some students keep sitting in the classrooms in small bunches. They take their home made meals together and have some chit-chat. Some of them, however, have to do their homework for the periods which occur in the afternoon.

 Only a few students go to the library during the recess period. I’m one of such students. A few other students go to play in the playground or just relax on the grassy lawns.

There may be seen a few students going to the school office to pay their fees or get their one or the other problem or complaint solved or redressed.

As soon as the bell declaring the end of the recess period goes, the students hurry to their classes and studies again start in right earnest.

Essay No. 05

Recess Period  

The recess period is a part of the school and college timetable. It is necessary for teachers and students alike. It is a period of rest and relaxation. It provides a much-needed relief after the continuous work of early hours. As soon as the bell of recess period goes, students rush out of their classrooms. Some students run towards the playground and begin to play some game. Others run to the canteen with their lunch-boxes. They take their lunch in this period. Still others go to the staff room to meet-their teachers. They get their difficulties about studies removed. A small number of them keep sitting in the classroom. They start doing their home tasks in this period. They want to finish it so that they may have free time at home. Teachers also spend this period in their own ways. Some take their lunch and discuss important matters regarding education. Others dabble their heads in politics. Still, others are busy in checking notebooks and removing students’ difficulties. When the recess period comes to an end all the students go back to their classes. The teachers also get busy in their classes.

Essay No. 06

Recess in School

The recess period is awaited eagerly by students and the teachers alike. After four periods of study, it comes.

Students run to taps for water. Some go to the toilets. Some go to the playground while some go to the school library.

Teachers go to the staff room. Some go to the shop. Some go to the playground while some go to the school library. Some take out their lunch boxes and do justice to them. Some students come to their teachers to get their help in solving difficult sums.

Students can be seen standing in groups talking or enjoying jokes. Students in the playground play games such as volleyball, football, or cricket. The recess period is half an hour.

The school PET’S can be seen at the playground watching players playing games. They are there to maintain discipline.

Sometimes some teachers also go to the playground. They play volleyball or sometimes cricket.

After half an hour the recess bell rings and the recess period is over. Students return to their classes fully refreshed for the next four periods to resume teaching work. The re- cess period is enjoyed by everyone in his or her own way.

After recess everyone looks fresh. Teachers go to their classes for roll-call. Then the fifth period begins.

About evirtualguru_ajaygour

commentscomments

Essay no.1 and 4 are best while 2 and 3 are also good

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Quick Links

Popular Tags

Visitors question & answer.

• Jayprakash on Hindi Essay on “Aitihasik Sthal ki Yatra” , ”ऐतिहासिक स्थल की यात्रा” Complete Hindi Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.
• Diksha on Official Letter Example “Write a letter to Superintendent of Police for theft of your bicycle. ” Complete Official Letter for all classes.
• Anchal Sharma on Write a letter to the Postmaster complaining against the Postman of your locality.
• rrrr on Hindi Essay on “Pratahkal ki Sair” , ”प्रातःकाल की सैर ” Complete Hindi Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.
• Mihir on CBSE ASL “Listening Test Worksheet” (ASL) 2017 for Class 11, Listening Test Audio Script 1

Download Our Educational Android Apps

Latest Desk

• Contemporary Indian Women-English Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 9, 10, 11 and 12 Students.
• Privatisation: Strengths and Weaknesses-English Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 9, 10, 11 and 12 Students.
• Greater political power alone will not improve women’s plight-English Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 9, 10, 11 and 12 Students.
• Casteism and Electoral Politics in India-English Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 9, 10, 11 and 12 Students.
• Wither Indian Democracy?-English Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 9, 10, 11 and 12 Students.
• Do Not Put Off till Tomorrow What You Can Do Today, Complete English Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 9, 10, 11, 12, Graduation and Competitive Examination.
• Shabd Shakti Ki Paribhasha aur Udahran | शब्द शक्ति की परिभाषा और उदाहरण
• Shabd Gun Ki Paribhasha aur Udahran | शब्द गुण की परिभाषा और उदाहरण
• Example Letter regarding election victory.
• Example Letter regarding the award of a Ph.D.
• Example Letter regarding the birth of a child.
• Example Letter regarding going abroad.
• Letter regarding the publishing of a Novel.

Vocational Edu.

• English Shorthand Dictation “East and Dwellings” 80 and 100 wpm Legal Matters Dictation 500 Words with Outlines.
• English Shorthand Dictation “Haryana General Sales Tax Act” 80 and 100 wpm Legal Matters Dictation 500 Words with Outlines meaning.
• English Shorthand Dictation “Deal with Export of Goods” 80 and 100 wpm Legal Matters Dictation 500 Words with Outlines meaning.
• English Shorthand Dictation “Interpreting a State Law” 80 and 100 wpm Legal Matters Dictation 500 Words with Outlines meaning.

• Skip to main content
• Skip to secondary menu
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

A Plus Topper

Improve your Grades

When The Last Bell Goes Essay | Essay on When The Last Bell Goes for Students and Children in English

February 7, 2024 by Prasanna

When The Last Bell Goes Essay – Given below is a Long and Short Essay on When The Last Bell Goes of competitive exams, kids and students belonging to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. When The Last Bell Goes essay 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 words in English helps the students with their class assignments, comprehension tasks, and even for competitive examinations.

You can also find more Essay Writing articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Short Essay on When The Last Bell Goes 300 Words for Kids and Students in English

Can one ever think of a music that is sweeter than that of the last bell of the school? The whole school gets a thrill. It seems as if the gates of the prison have been opened and the inmates are lining up to leave it as soon as possible.

All the periods after the recess are full of boredom. The gloom reaches its height in the last period. Even the teachers are tired and wait for the bell. But for the students, every minute hangs heavily on their heads. They keep glancing at the watch. When there are only five minutes left, they start packing up. Their eyes are on the blackboard but their hands are busy packing up their bags. Their brains stop working and they are mere robots.

The sound of the last bell fills them with sheer joy. One can hear their noises and shouts. Just like the bus passengers, everyone wants to come out first. The teachers try to control them at the staircase. They shout at them to line up. The students obey and forget the orders immediately afterwards. As soon as they reach the school compound, their chatter and gossip grow louder. It seems as if they were turning their back on the school forever. Within five minutes, the whole mad rush is over and the school wears a dreary look.

• Picture Dictionary
• English Speech
• English Slogans
• English Letter Writing
• English Essay Writing
• English Textbook Answers
• Types of Certificates
• ICSE Solutions
• Selina ICSE Solutions
• ML Aggarwal Solutions
• HSSLive Plus One
• HSSLive Plus Two
• Kerala SSLC
• Distance Education

Improving writing skills since 2002

(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

School bells.

• Word Count: 1112
• Approx Pages: 4
• View my Saved Essays
• Downloads: 23
• Grade level: Undergraduate
• Problems? Flag this paper!

            School Bells Essay I found Lewis Lapham's article "School Bells" in the August, 2000 edition of Harper's magazine to be not only convincing, but also easy to relate to and truthful. The contents of the article have far-reaching and thought-provoking implications. Much of his argument rests on the nearly indisputable belief that if we, as a nation, devoutly wished to reform or even revolutionize the educational system in place, we undoubtedly could. Factual proof of this is found throughout the history of the United States. We have made significant scientific and societal advances in the last one hundred years as evidenced by the computer, the automobile, the civil rights movement, the list goes on. With such incredible financial and intellectual resources as can be found in this country, why not add another major contribution to our success? - Education. Though he never directly refers to it, the process in which public schools are funded is alluded to several times by Lapham (e.g. "We have one set of schools for the children of the elite, another for children less fortunately born). The flaw in funding for public schools lies in direct community influence. Nearly 1/2 of the funding provided is derived from the property taxes collected from the locality. Since wealthy neighborhoods pay far more property tax than poor ones, schools that lie in wealthy districts and neighborhood are allocated far more capital than schools located in poor areas. This creates a myriad of dilemmas for the poor (most of which they aren't even aware of because they have never been taught), and innumerable advantages for the rich. Under the current system the children of wealthy families are catered to and groomed to become the new "elite" while obstacles are constantly being placed in the paths of destitute children. This is a major contributing factor to the cycle of class distinction. Lapham claims at one point that "schools regulate the supply of unskilled labor," and think of "the graduating classes as an assembly line product.

• Page 1 of 4

Essays Related to School Bells

1. alexander graham bell.

Bell was one of the greatest inventors that ever lived. ... "He was born on March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland to Alexander Melville Bell and Eliza Grace Bell."" ... "The Bell family was not pleased with Alexander's lack of school success. ... He had heard Alexander Graham Bell's voice over the wire: Alexander Graham Bell had sent eh first telephone message. ... "Eventually Alexander Graham Bell won over Mabel's family, and in 1877 Alexander Graham Bell and Mabel were married. ...

• Word Count: 1260
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

2. Bell Hooks

Hooks talks about the her transition between a school full of mostly black people to a school were it was mostly white. ... Because of this some blacks do not want to attend school because they are afraid of people making fun of them. ... This makes school life some blacks unsatisfactory. Bell Hooks sees the education system as an incorrect environment. ... Bell Hooks also believes education is a form of freedom. ...

• Word Count: 892

3. Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell is of great importance in the world of communications. ... Bell was born on March 3,1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Around the same time, Graham applied for a job as a student teacher at Weston House, an all boys' school near Edinburgh. ... In 1871, the principal for the school of the deaf in Boston, Sarah Fuller, asked his father to teach "Visible Speech" to her teachers. ... In 1872, he opened a school for the teachers of the deaf. ...

• Word Count: 980
• Has Bibliography

4. Bell Hooks essay

• Word Count: 867
• Approx Pages: 3

5. The Bell

The Bell. Thursday I came to school, as I always have, to get my daily dose of information since in the T-days, (as The University of Houston's vernacular would describe them), I get most of my education. ... As I looked at the bell, I remembered the reason for wish I had come. ... Suddenly I was dumbstruck, was I the bell? At that instant I realized what the buzzing and the humming meant, I was the bell, I had turned into the bell and just like her I was forgotten, and even though I didn't have the appearance that I had before now I served another purpose I was the bees h...

• Word Count: 1368

6. Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell introduced flight as well. ... " The telegraph had been invented before Bell's time. ... Bell asked his partner Watson to pluck a reed, and the vibration was felt by Bell in the other room, in that moment the telephone was born. ... Later, Sarah Fuller, a principle of a school for the deaf in Boston asked Melville Bell to show teachers how to use visible speech, he declined, but sent his son Alexander Graham Bell. In 1872 Bell opened a school for the teachers of the deaf. ...

• Word Count: 627

7. Alexander Graham Bell

Young Alexander Graham Bell, Bell as his family knew him, took to reading and writing at a precociously young age. ... As he matured, Bell displayed what came to be known as a Bell family trademark--an expressive, flexible, and resonant speaking voice. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the inventor spent one year at a private school, two years at Edinburgh's Royal High School (from which he graduated at 14), and attended a few lectures at Edinburgh University and at University College in London, but he was largely family-trained and self-taught. ... By the time he was 16, he was teaching mu...

• Word Count: 695
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Corruption

Pete Bell a basketball coach at Western University. ... Pete Bell a basketball coach at Western University. ... Bell gave in, he but his moral beliefs aside. ... If WU didn't agree other schools would have met their demands. ... Money can influence the school we attend, the career path we choose. ...

• Word Count: 1143

APA Style for beginners

Then check out some frequently asked questions:

What is APA Style?

Why use apa style in high school, how do i get started with apa style, what apa style products are available, your help wanted.

APA Style is the most common writing style used in college and career. Its purpose is to promote excellence in communication by helping writers create clear, precise, and inclusive sentences with a straightforward scholarly tone. It addresses areas of writing such as how to

• format a paper so it looks professional;
• credit other people’s words and ideas via citations and references to avoid plagiarism; and
• describe other people with dignity and respect using inclusive, bias-free language.

APA Style is primarily used in the behavioral sciences, which are subjects related to people, such as psychology, education, and nursing. It is also used by students in business, engineering, communications, and other classes. Students use it to write academic essays and research papers in high school and college, and professionals use it to conduct, report, and publish scientific research .

High school students need to learn how to write concisely, precisely, and inclusively so that they are best prepared for college and career. Here are some of the reasons educators have chosen APA Style:

• APA Style is the style of choice for the AP Capstone program, the fastest growing AP course, which requires students to conduct and report independent research.
• APA Style helps students craft written responses on standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT because it teaches students to use a direct and professional tone while avoiding redundancy and flowery language.
• Most college students choose majors that require APA Style or allow APA Style as an option. It can be overwhelming to learn APA Style all at once during the first years of college; starting APA Style instruction in high school sets students up for success.

High school students may also be interested in the TOPSS Competition for High School Psychology Students , an annual competition from the APA Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools for high school students to create a short video demonstrating how a psychological topic has the potential to benefit their school and/or local community and improve people’s lives.

Most people are first introduced to APA Style by reading works written in APA Style. The following guides will help with that:

Many people also write research papers or academic essays in APA Style. The following resources will help with that:

Instructors will also benefit from using the following APA Style resources:

In addition to all the free resources on this website, APA publishes several products that provide comprehensive information about APA Style:

The APA Style team is interested in developing additional resources appropriate for a beginner audience. If you have resources you would like to share, or feedback on this topic, please contact the APA Style team . 

Free newsletter

Apa style monthly.

Subscribe to the APA Style Monthly newsletter to get tips, updates, and resources delivered directly to your inbox.

Welcome! Thank you for subscribing.

B.C. brings in 'bell-to-bell' school cellphone ban

How rules are implemented will vary by school board, premier says.

Social Sharing

Cellphone use will be restricted in all British Columbia school districts when pupils return next week, as the province becomes the latest to curtail the use of the devices by students.

Premier David Eby says all school districts now have policies in place to ban cellphone use "bell-to-bell," in line with a government directive announced in April.

Eby said Tuesday that how the rules are implemented will vary between school boards "but the bottom line is that the phones are not going to be out in the classroom." 

"They're not going to be out in the hallways, not going to be out in the schoolyards. It's a bell-to-bell restriction on cellphones, recognizing that there are some kids with disabilities that may require access to a phone for an accommodation of some kind," he said.

The premier said the aim of the ban is to make sure students can learn and develop relationships without a phone and remove the peer pressure that can come when students have phones.

"We know that beyond just the impact on socialization, kids having access to apps with algorithms that feed them constantly, more enticing, more extreme content has an impact on their health," he said. 

The province is also imposing "access zones" around schools, allowing police to arrest or issue tickets to anyone found impeding access, disrupting educational activities, or attempting to intimidate an individual within 20 metres of school property.

B.C. schools prepare for cellphone ban

The law was tabled in April, at a time when the premier said most of the protests involved demonstrators angry about the sexual orientation and gender identity education being taught in schools.

Eby said on Tuesday that B.C. has seen 20 protests that were disruptive to schools, including one case where adults were pounding on school windows and another where individual students and teachers were targeted and made to feel unsafe.

"We need to make sure that our schools are safe places to learn for kids, and we're doing that," he said.

The zones will be in effect on school days from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. and during extracurricular school activities at all public and independent schools.

Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia all either have, or are in the process of creating, rules that restrict the use of cellphones by students.

Related Stories

• Top stories from British Columbia
• 'Staggering' $2 million theft lands London Drugs employee in jail
• Teenager falls to his death at Lynn Canyon in North Vancouver
• B.C. mining company ordered to shut down unauthorized worker camp

My Children! My Africa!

Thami warning mr. m.

Why is the school bell more important than anything for Mr M (act 2 scene 4)

The school bell is a vital prop in My Children! My Africa! Mr. M uses the bell to summon students to class, and continues trying to do so in vain after the boycott has begun. At that point, the bell is seen as a representation of the traditional education system, so his ringing it angers the Comrades and contributes to his death when they burn down the school. The school bell is also of particular significance to Thami, who recalls his childhood when he loved school and the associated sound of the school bell. He says in a monologue, "I remember my school bells like beautiful voices calling to me all through my childhood" (p.52) and sings a song in Bantu and English about the school bell ringing, including lyrics mimicking its sound.

Log In To Your GradeSaver Account

• Remember me
• Forgot your password?

Create Your GradeSaver Account

Recommended

Nick cannon and brittany bell’s son golden starts 4th grade at 7 years old: ‘he’s advanced’.

Golden takes 4th grade!

Brittany Bell revealed on Friday that her and Nick Cannon’s “very advanced” 7-year-old son has skipped grades.

The former pageant queen, 36, celebrated her “bright” child in an Instagram post .

“Golden is 7 in 4th grade (yes he’s advanced and yes his emotional intelligence matches his cognitive intellect),” she gushed. “last year Golden ran for and was elected as his class representative.”

Bell went on to write that their 3-year-old daughter, Powerful , is “already in Pre-K big kids class” and “is quite popular.”

The “proud” parent concluded, “They are doing well — can’t wait for this year and what they will do!”

Want more celebrity and pop culture news?

Start your day with Page Six Daily.

Thanks for signing up!

Please provide a valid email address.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy .

Want celebrity news as it breaks? Hooked on Housewives?

She posted sweet snaps of Golden and Powerful on their first day, as well as 1-year-old son Rise crashing a group photo in his pajamas.

“[He] is already ready for school and had to jump in before we all were off!” Bell joked.

She and Cannon, 43, have previously shared their kids’ learning milestones, with the rapper crediting “genius” Bell for their smarts.

Golden started the second grade in August 2022 at age 5.

The following year, Cannon shared a video of Powerful reading flashcards featuring both English and Spanish words.

“Look at this brilliant baby!!” the former Nickelodeon star gushed via Instagram in 2022. “They got mad when we named her POWERFUL QUEEN! Y’all lucky I didn’t go with my other choice GENIUS EMPRESS!! LOL.”

He and Bell started their family after the rapper and his ex-wife, Mariah Carey, called it quits in 2016.

Cannon and the “We Belong Together” singer are the parents of 13-year-old twins, Moroccan and Monroe .

In addition, the “All That” alum has gone on to welcome seven more children with four different women .

The “Masked Singer” host shares twins Zion and Zillion , 3, as well as daughter Beautiful , 1, with Abby De La Rosa.

He co-parents son Legendary , 2, and daughter Onyx , 1, with Bre Tiesi and Lanisha Cole, respectively.

Cannon most recently welcomed daughter Halo , now 1, with Alyssa Scott, one year after their son, Zen, lost his battle with brain cancer .

Advertisement

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election results
• Google trends
• AP & Elections
• U.S. Open Tennis
• Paralympic Games
• College football
• Auto Racing
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Schools are competing with cellphones. Here’s how they think they could win

An AP analysis of data from 40 states and DC shows school absenteeism got worse in each one except Arkansas from 2018-2022.

This photo provided by Spokane Public Schools shows Adams Elementary fifth graders pausing to pose for a photo while painting a mural at Spokane Community College, May 2024, in Spokane, Wash. (Spokane Public Schools via AP)

This photo provided by Spokane Public Schools shows John R. Rogers High School football players lifting a Longfellow Elementary student to the hoop during a visit to the school, Nov. 2022. Longfellow kindergarteners inspired the field trip when they wrote a collaborative letter to the older kids, saying how proud they were of the neighborhood team for earning their first win in three years, in Spokane, Wash. (Spokane Public Schools via AP)

Student Isabella Pires stands for a photograph, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at Dartmouth High School, in Dartmouth, Mass. Pires wrote an opinion piece in her school’s newspaper about malaise she sees in school, hoping to start a discussion and maybe get students and adults alike to think about reversing the disengagement that she sees as worsening. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Lackawanna Police Officer Abdul Albaneh, who works with schools, demonstrates how to unlock a cellphone pouch that will prevent students from using their cellphones during the school day to improve student engagement, in Lackawanna, N.Y., Aug. 19, 2024, for when school resumes in September. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

Parents and students in the Lackawanna City School District watch a video demonstrating a new policy that will require the students to lock their cellphones in pouches during the school day, Aug. 19, 2024, in Lackawanna, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

• Copy Link copied

Isabella Pires first noticed what she calls the “gradual apathy pandemic” in eighth grade. Only a handful of classmates registered for service projects she helped organize at her Massachusetts school. Even fewer actually showed up.

When she got to high school last fall, Isabella found the problem was even worse: a lackluster Spirit Week and classes where students seldom spoke.

In some ways, it’s as if students “just care less and less about what people think, but also somehow care more ,” said Isabella, 14. Some teens, she said, no longer care about appearing disengaged, while others are so afraid of ridicule they keep to themselves. She blames social media and the lingering isolation of the post-COVID era.

Educators say their tried and true lesson plans are no longer enough to keep students engaged at a time of struggling mental health , shortened attention spans, reduced attendance and worsening academic performance . At the crux of these challenges? Addiction to cellphones. Now, adults are trying new strategies to reverse the malaise.

Student Isabella Pires stands for a photograph, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at Dartmouth High School, in Dartmouth, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Cellphone bans are gaining traction, but many say they’re not enough. They argue for alternative stimulation: steering students outdoors or toward extracurriculars to fill time they might otherwise spend alone online. And students need outlets, they say, to speak about taboo topics without fear of being “ canceled ” on social media.

“To get students engaged now, you have to be very, very creative,” said Wilbur Higgins, lead English teacher at Dartmouth High School, where Isabella will be a sophomore this fall.

Lock them up

Cellphone pouches, lockers and bins have grown in popularity to help enforce device bans .

John Nguyen, a chemistry teacher in California, invented a pouch system because he was so distressed by bullying and fights on phones during class, often without adults interfering. Many teachers are afraid to confront students using phones during lessons, Nguyen said, and others have given up trying to stop it.

At Nguyen’s school, students lock their phones in neoprene pouches during classes or even all day. A teacher or principal’s magnetic key unlocks the pouches.

It doesn’t matter how dynamic the lesson, said Nguyen, who teaches at Marina Valley High School and now markets the pouches to other schools. “There’s nothing that can compete with the cell phone.”

Do something (else)

Some schools are locking up smartwatches and wireless headphones, too. But the pouches don’t work once the final bell rings.

So in Spokane, Washington, schools are ramping up extracurriculars to compete with phones after hours.

An initiative launching this month, “ Engage IRL ” — in real life — aims to give every student something to look forward to after the school-day grind, whether it’s a sport, performing arts or a club.

“Isolating in your home every day after school for hours on end on a personal device has become normalized,” Superintendent Adam Swinyard said.

Students can create clubs around interests like board games and knitting or partake in neighborhood basketball leagues. Teachers will help students make a plan to get involved during back-to-school conferences, the district says.

This photo provided by Spokane Public Schools shows John R. Rogers High School football players lifting a Longfellow Elementary student to the hoop during a visit to the school, Nov. 2022. (Spokane Public Schools via AP)

“From 3 to 5:30 you are in a club, you’re in a sport, you’re at an activity,” instead of on a phone, Swinyard said. (The district has a new ban on phones during class, but will allow them after school.)

At a time of high absenteeism , he also hopes the activities will be the extra push some students need to attend school. In a Gallup poll conducted last November, only 48% of middle or high school students said they felt motivated to go to school, and only 52% felt they did something interesting every day. The poll was funded by the Walton Family Foundation, which also supports environmental journalism at the AP.

Vivian Mead, a rising senior in Spokane, said having more after-school activities helps but won’t work for everyone. “There’s definitely still some people who just want to be alone, listen to their music, do their own thing, or, like, be on their phone,” said Vivian, 17.

Her 15-year-old sister, Alexandra, said morning advisory sessions have improved participation in the drama club that keeps the sisters busy. “It forces everyone, even if they don’t want to get involved, to have to try something, and maybe that clicks,” she said.

Get outside

Thirteen middle schools in Maine adopted a similar approach, bringing students outdoors for 35,000 total hours during a chosen week in May.

It’s empowering for students to connect with each other in nature, away from screens, said Tim Pearson, a physical education and health teacher. His students at Dedham School participated in the statewide “Life Happens Outside” challenge.

Teachers adapted their lessons to be taught outdoors, and students bonded in the open air during lunch and recess. At night, about half of Dedham’s students camped, incentivized by a pizza party. Several students told Pearson they camped out again after the challenge.

“Whether they had phones with them or not, they’re building fires, they’re putting up their tents,” Pearson said. “They’re doing things outside that obviously are not on social media or texting.”

Plea to parents

Parents must also make changes to their family’s cellphone culture, some teachers say. At home, Ohio teacher Aaron Taylor bars cellular devices when his own children have friends over.

And when kids are at school, parents shouldn’t distract them with check-in texts throughout the day, he said.

“Students are so tied to their families,” said Taylor, who teaches at Westerville North High School, near Columbus. “There’s this anxiety of not being able to contact them, rather than appreciating the freedom of being alone for eight hours or with your friends.”

Fight fears of being ‘canceled’

Some say other forces behind teen disengagement are only amplified by the cellphone. The divisive political climate often makes students unwilling to participate in class, when anything they say can rocket around the school in a messaging app.

Taylor’s high school English students tell him they don’t talk in class because they don’t want to be “ canceled ” — a term applied to public figures who are silenced or boycotted after offensive opinions or speech.

“I’m like, ‘Well, who’s canceling you? And why would you be canceled? We’re talking about `The Great Gatsby,’” not some controversial political topic, he said.

Students “get very, very quiet” when topics such as sexuality, gender or politics come up in novels, said Higgins, the Massachusetts English teacher. “Eight years ago, you had hands shooting up all over the place. Nobody wants to be labeled a certain way anymore or to be ridiculed or to be called out for politics.”

So Higgins uses websites such as Parlay that allow students to have online discussions anonymously. The services are expensive, but Higgins believes the class engagement is worth it.

“I can see who they are when they’re responding to questions and things, but other students can’t see,” Higgins said. “That can be very, very powerful.”

Alarmed at her peers’ disengagement, Isabella, Higgins’ student, wrote an opinion piece in her school’s newspaper.

“Preventing future generations from joining this same downward cycle is up to us,” she wrote.

A comment on the post highlighted the challenge, and what’s at stake.

“All in all,” the commenter wrote, “why should we care?”

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

University of South Florida

College of Arts & Sciences

Main navigation, cas chronicles.

From left: Dr. Gregory Perreault, Dr. Mildred Perreault, Dr. Janelle Applequist, and Dr. Fan Yang.

Zimmerman School faculty present research papers during International Communication Association conference

• Michelle Holden, USF College of Arts and Sciences
• August 29, 2024

Accomplishments , Research

Four faculty members from the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications recently presented research papers during the 74th Annual International Communication Association (ICA), which took place in June. The ICA aims to advance the scholarly study of human communication by encouraging and facilitating excellence in academic research worldwide.

Dr. Gregory Perreault , associate professor, presented a paper on joy in journalism.

“A lot of research in journalism studies is really sad: exploring audience hostility, difficult labor practices, and why journalists leave the field. But what I find to be more intriguing is why journalists stay. Noteworthy in all that scholarship is that they’re talking to still-working journalists,” he said. “My research team and I have a data set exploring particular pillars of joy—like generosity, humor, forgiveness—in the life experiences of journalists. Over the next year, we hope to look in particular at how journalists experience generosity (and offer it).”

Dr. Mildred Perreault , assistant professor, highlighted her work focusing on rural journalism and news and disaster communication ecology.

“It is important to share work at the international level so that you can learn more about other countries and also gain a broader understanding of our field. It also helps one to connect with new collaborators,” she explained. “International engagement, like presenting at ICA, is something that distinguishes USF scholars from other scholars at smaller universities, but also helps it align with peer AAU schools.”

She also shared that there were additional networking and engagement opportunities beyond paper presentations.

“I was also part of a group that examined efforts to engage underrepresented groups in academic scholarship about media and communication. That was a great opportunity to have deeper conversations about how to bring new voices into academic spaces.”

She adds that she received some great feedback after her paper was accepted, as well as during the conference, that she can edit for submission to a publication.

“Often the research process is lonely, but conferences make it much more engaging and collaborative. For example, with my work on rural journalism, I was able to participate in a panel discussion with several other scholars in this area. Since it is a niche area, it is a great opportunity to connect with media scholars all over the world who are studying something smaller communities,” she said.

Dr. Fan Yang , assistant professor, and Dr. Janelle Applequist , associate professor, presented their co-authored paper on a meta-analytic and scoping review of digital data-driven advertising.

“Presenting papers at this conference to a wider audience is crucial for several reasons. It provides an excellent opportunity to disseminate our findings and ideas, allowing us to collect constructive feedback from diverse perspectives and seek new collaborations that can enhance the quality and impact of my research. It also aligns with USF's strategic planning goals of engaging broader audiences and furthering internationalization efforts,” Yang explained.

“Presenting our work to a national/international audience contributes to USF's branding and fosters cross-cultural academic exchanges,” she added. “These presentations serve as a platform to showcase The Zimmerman School's cutting-edge research and innovative approaches in advertising and mass communication. This visibility not only enhances the school’s reputation, but also attracts potential students, faculty, and research partners, ultimately strengthening our position as a leader in the field.”

For Applequist, the experience of presenting research at these venues serves as a critical "first step" of her scholarly process. It provides an opportunity to receive and apply feedback from audience members before submitting a study for journal publication. 

“The diverse perspectives offered by colleagues from various fields, institutions, countries, and cultures foster a transdisciplinary approach that significantly enhances the quality and relevance of my (and my team's) work,” she said.

“Feedback provided by an audience member after Dr. Fan Yang and I presented our co-authored study resulted in great conversation regarding how the rigor of our methods (a meta-analytic and scoping review of digital data-driven advertising) could be adapted for more niche areas (e.g., direct-to-consumer advertising in the pharmaceutical industry). These types of studies would serve to inform the field of advertising while providing potential industry partners with critical information for enhancing their daily and annual operations.”

“As a proud member of the USF community, I am committed to publishing high-quality research that showcases our commitment to research excellence. I am very fortunate to be working alongside great colleagues and team members, focused next on grant-funded projects, including a collaboration with BayCare on social determinants of health, and a large-scale NIH-funded study where colleagues and I seek to enhance communication processes throughout clinical trials to address participant retention,” Applequist said.

Yang says she hopes to next deepen exploration of AI's impact on media consumption and human-machine communication.

“We plan to investigate the individual and social implications of AI-driven communicative technologies, as well as expand our studies on AI-powered social robots using cutting-edge tools available in our Media Research Center of The Zimmerman School. Our ultimate goal is to position The Zimmerman School at the forefront of AI research in media research, providing valuable insights for both academia and industry as we navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of AI-enhanced media ecosystems.”

Return to article listing

• Accomplishments
• Community Engagement

About CAS Chronicles

CAS Chronicles is the monthly newsletter for the University of South Florida's College of Arts and Sciences, your source for the latest news, research, and events at CAS.

B.C. brings in ‘bell to bell’ school phone ban, as new access rules target protesters

B.C. Premier David Eby responds to questions during a news conference outside Douglas College in Coquitlam, B.C., on July 24. DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press

Cellphone use will be restricted in all British Columbia school districts when pupils return next week, as the province becomes the latest to curtail the use of the devices by students.

Premier David Eby says all districts now have policies in place to ban phone use “bell-to-bell,” in line with a government directive announced in April.

Eby said Tuesday that how the rules are implemented will vary between school boards “but the bottom line is that the phones are not going to be out in the classroom.”

“They’re not going to be out in the hallways, not going to be out in the schoolyards. It’s a bell-to-bell restriction on cellphones, recognizing that there are some kids with disabilities that may require access to a phone for an accommodation of some kind,” he said.

The premier said the aim of the ban is to make sure students can learn and develop relationships without a phone, and remove the peer pressure that can come when students have phones.

“We know that beyond just the impact on socialization, kids having access to apps with algorithms that feed them constantly, more enticing, more extreme content has an impact on their health,” he said.

Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia all either have, or are in the process of creating, rules that restrict the use of cellphones by students.

A statement from the BC Teachers’ Federation said that while teachers are happy to see attention on classroom needs, “there are much higher priorities than cellphones.”

The federation, which represents 50,000 teachers in the province, said B.C. is experiencing a staffing crisis across schools.

“Any efforts to improve learning conditions should be part of a robust plan for retention and recruitment strategies. With an election less than two months away, B.C. teachers and families hope to see every party campaign on platforms that prioritize public education,” the statement said.

The province is also imposing “access zones” around schools allowing police to arrest or issue tickets to anyone found impeding access, disrupting educational activities, or attempting to intimidate an individual within 20 metres of school property.

The law was tabled in April, at a time when the premier said most of the protests involved demonstrators angry about the sexual orientation and gender identity education being taught in schools.

Eby said on Tuesday that B.C. has seen 20 protests that were disruptive to schools, including one case where adults were pounding on school windows and another where individual students and teachers were targeted and made to feel unsafe.

“We need to make sure that our schools are safe places to learn for kids, and we’re doing that,” he said.

The zones will be in effect on school days from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m., and during extracurricular school activities at all public and independent schools.

Report an editorial error

Report a technical issue

Follow related authors and topics

• British Columbia
• Policy and Regulation

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following .

Interact with The Globe

The History of the School Bell

Audrey watters.

I'd wager it's the most frequently told story about ed-tech — one told with more gusto and more frequency even than "computers will revolutionize teaching" and "you can learn anything on YouTube." Indeed, someone invoked this story just the other day when chatting with me about the current shape and status of our education system: the school bell was implemented to acclimate students for life as factory workers, to train them to move and respond on command, their day broken into segments of time dictated by the machine rather than the rhythms of pre-industrial, rural life.

It's a story that seems plausible. The bell is a technology associated with behavioral conditioning, after all — Pavlov and his salivating dogs. It is a technology that organizes the school, controlling both space and time. The bell sounds out the logic of the day: it's time for math. It's time for recess. It's time for reading. Finally, thank god, around 3 o'clock or so, it's time to go home. And at the end of the school year, when "schools out completely," as Alice Cooper sings, the children cheer with joy as the final bell rings, the bell and their voices warping as the classic song fades out — freed from, as John Taylor Gatto put it, "the barren experiences of school bells in a prison of measured time." (1)

It should come as no surprise to close observers of invented histories of education that Gatto would have something to say (in almost all his books, in fact) about the tyranny of the bell. He was, after all, one of the most influential promoters of the " school-as-factory " narrative: that the origins of mass schooling are inextricably bound to the need to reshape a rebellious farming nation's sons and daughters into a docile, industrial workforce. It's a powerful, influential story, sure, but it's a pretty inaccurate history.

The bell also invokes another popular tale, often repeated by the same folks: the one in which schools haven't changed in hundreds of years. Some metal contraption still bangs in the hallways while the rest of the world has moved on to — gesturing widely — the digital. Need proof? Why, one can point to the fact that Alice Cooper's 1972 hit remains a popular, end-of-the-school-year anthem (as does "Another Brick in the Wall" which was also produced by Bob Erin who urged Pink Floyd to add a children's chorus as it was so successful in the Alice Cooper track. But I digress.) Surely this demonstrates how despicably moribund schools are, right?

Or at least, it shows how much we like stories about education that feel true — or maybe songs about education that make us feel like anti-establishment rebels.

Many institutions — not only schools and not only factories — have long used bells to mark beginnings and endings and important events. One can hardly point to the development of the mechanical clock and its connection to the strict observance of prayer times at monasteries and view the bell as a technology of liberation, no doubt. But one can perhaps reconsider citing John Taylor Gatto as your sole source of education history. (The guy called the people enslaved by Thomas Jefferson his "employees," for crying out loud.)

Bells, primarily handbells, have been a technology of school since their outset, well before "the factory" they were purportedly modeled on. They were used, as were the bells in churches, to summon students to ye old one room schoolhouse for the beginning of the day.

Architecture and Ed-Tech

The Common School movement that nineteenth century education reformer Horace Mann spearheaded (from roughly 1840-1880), advocating for the foundation of a public school system, did not just promote a common curriculum — an overt curriculum, that is, of reading, writing, and arithmetic or a covert curriculum of punctuality and obedience. It also advocated for the construction of standardized school buildings , replacing the one-room schoolhouses in urban areas. (It's worth noting that, even into the 1910s, half of the students in the US remained enrolled in the country's 212,000 one-room schools.) (2) Mann recommended that communities invest in a bell for these buildings. "Where the expense can be afforded, every schoolhouse should be provided with a bell. If not the only mode, it is probably the best one for insuring punctuality; and the importance of punctuality can hardly be overstated." (3)

The architecture of the school building informs the pedagogy that takes place therein — the same goes for the technologies that are implemented inside them. And that includes the school bell.

But bells weren't simply — or even primarily — a technology of pedagogy as much as one for announcements and alarms. Although companies like the Standard Electric Time Company (founded in Massachusetts in 1884) sold synchronized clock and bell systems to schools (and yes, factories), an early function of the latter was not to mimic the rhythm of the workplace but rather to warn occupants about fire.

( Insurance Engineering issued a widely-cited report in 1913, decrying the condition of some 250,000 schools in the US as "built to burn." "In 1911," the Moline, Illinois Dispatch worriedly detailed, "the value of school and college buildings destroyed by fire approximated $3,000,000. Estimates of the frequency of fires are as high as ten a week." (4) The story, incidentally, blames the introduction of a new piece of ed-tech for many of the blazes: the film projector.)

Bells and Platoons

The ringing of the bell to signal the beginning and end of a class period, rather than just the beginning and end of the school day is often traced to William Wirt, who became superintendent of schools in Gary, Indiana in 1908. Wirt, a student of progressive educator John Dewey, devised a system in which, when the bell rang, students would move from room to room for instruction, not only in reading, writing, and arithmetic, but in music and shop, as well as time outdoors on a playground.

Generally, children had two ninety-minute periods or three hours a day in the basic subjects, and six thirty minute periods in special subjects the other three hours of the school day. Obviously to function effectively this scheme required a high degree of administrative planning and precision timing in the moving of children. This was particularly true if the schools were large, as they were at Gary, where some of them included all twelve grades and eventually had as many as 3,000 students." (5)

Wirt called this the "work-study-play school," and Dewey praised the model in his 1915 book (co-written with daughter Evelyn) Schools of Tomorrow :

The question [Wirt] tried to answer was this: What did the Gary children need to make them good citizens and happy and prosperous human beings, and how could the money available for educational purposes supply all these needs? The industrial features of his schools will be taken up later, but it may be well to point out in passing that they were not instituted to turn out good workers for the steel company, nor to save the factories the expense of training their own workers, but for the educational value of the work they involved. In the same way it would be a mistake to consider the Gary schools simply as an attempt to take the unpromising immi- grant child and turn him into a self-supporting immigrant, or as an attempt to meet the demand of an industrial class for a certain sort of training. (6)

That John Dewey insisted what became known as the Gary Plan wasn't designed to condition students to become factory workers should maybe count for something . Maybe? It doesn't mean, of course, that the system didn't have incredible appeal to those reformers in the early twentieth century who were determined to reshape public education into a more efficient endeavor. Indeed as Callahan argues in his classic Education and the Cult of Efficiency , the Gary Plan was often showcased as an example of scientific management applied to schooling. But note: this was not because it trained children as workers but because it enabled a more efficient usage of the school building . That schools were empty at nights and on weekends and certain classrooms unused during the day was such a waste of money to those reformers, who argued that schools needed to be run more like businesses, indeed more like factories. ("Keep the students in the buildings year round, dammit!")

While this push for reform was largely administrative — a financial endeavor — there were concerns among parents and educators at the time that this system would have pedagogical, if not broader cultural implications. In a 1924 article in the New Republic titled "The Factory System," Chicago teacher Margaret Haley decried the Gary Plan, also known as the "platoon school." (School bells as a technology training students for the military — that's a Douglas Noble argument right there.) Clearly, she argued, the Gary Plan was simply an effort to lower the cost of education by enrolling more students than classrooms could hold, "dumping" the excess onto the playground or into auditorium or cafeteria spaces, and rotating them rapidly through classrooms so that, as a result, teachers would have hundreds of pupils per day. The platoon school was "the factory system carried into the public school, which needs only the closing-time whistle to make complete its identification with the great industrial plants!" (7)

Although the "platoon school" fell out of favor after 1930, with teachers and even some administrators decrying the Taylorization of education, the influence of efficiency-based reforms remained. Moreover, the adoption of the Carnegie Unit and the standardization of curricular requirements and teachers' workloads in the early twentieth century ha led to the adoption of a school schedule that appears, at least in some way, platoon-school-like: the day divided into 45-minute class periods.

This is a Public Service Announcement

But by and large, through much of the twentieth century, schools did not ring bells to move students from class to class, from room to room. Automated school bells, along with public announcement systems, were available but were not widely adopted until after World War II. Indeed, it was well into the 1960s that many schools finally wired every classroom up to an automated PA system so that the bell, rather than the teacher with an eye on the clock, dismissed class. (And in many communities, it was the PTA that led the fundraising for this bell equipment. You know the PTA, that bastion of bourgeois values so very committed to their children being trained by bells to become factory workers.)

That the ringing of the school bell was not part of some original and sinister strategy to habituate students for a life of labor doesn't mean the bell — like all technologies in or out of schools — didn't come with and be born from certain ideologies. But the school bell has a different, more complicated history than the "factory model schools" story tells it. It's worth understanding that history because to do so helps us understand the present and design the future. Schools haven't always or everywhere been modeled on factories, despite the efforts of business-minded reformers (still) to reshape them to that end for over a century. The bell hasn't always symbolized drudgery, and when it did signal compliance — and to be sure, it did — we need to think about what that expectation meant historically, not just rhetorically as we describe or decry education today. And don't even get me started on the phrase I've heard in some ed-tech circles, "cells and bells."

The history of education technology — and my rationale for writing this series of essays on the topic — should help us see the possibility for alternatives. Those who want us to forget (or mis-remember) the past are very much committed to our give up hope. Things weren't always this way; resistance is possible. That's all there's ever been, in fact — change — even with something as seemingly old and unchanging as the school bell.

(1) John Taylor Gatto, Weapons of Mass Instruction , 2009. p. 130.

(2) Jeffrey Lackney, "New Approaches for School Design." The Sage Handbook of Educational Leadership , 2011. p. 356.

(3) Horace Mann, "Supplementary Report on the Subject of Schoolhouses." (1838). Life and Works of Horace Mann , 1891. p. 486.

(4) "Local Schools in List of Dangerous." The Dispatch , Moline, Illinois, 16 April 1913.

(5) Raymond Callahan. Education and the Cult of Efficiency , 1962. p. 129.

(6) John and Evelyn Dewey. Schools of Tomorrow , 1915. p. 176.

(7) Callahan, p. 146.

(8) Archie , February 17, 1960.

Published 30 Jan 2022

Hack Education

The history of the future of education technology.