It’s been a month since the phone policy was introduced and started shocking many students with metal safes and a long list of rules. Reactions varied as teachers jumped up and down at the new changes and students started to slowly go through withdrawal. While many students critiqued the new guidelines calling them “too strict,” we have to wonder if these new rules are working.
If the new phone policy is bringing positive change then it’s reasonable to trust the guidelines even if they seem harsh, but if it isn’t working then why keep a system that makes students unhappy and doesn’t fix the problems found in the classroom?
When the phone policy was first rolled out many students were surprised to see the new guidelines enforced. Joe Solma, a Language Arts teacher at Washington, commented on the growing pains of the phone policy:
“I would say that the biggest growing pain is that for students who are so used to [pulling] a phone out just to scroll real quick out of their pocket, not even to play a video game or do something very time intensive— it’s very hard to break that subconscious addiction which all students and teachers have.”
A primary reason for the phone policy was frustrations expressed by the teachers. As students took little regard to academics in the classroom and ignored teacher instruction, unable to pull away from their devices. When asking Ian Lemaster, the principal at Washington High School, about teacher satisfaction he says, “In observations, I see almost 0 earbuds, 0 phones. I see more engagement. Teachers have expressed that same thing— they’re seeing more student-to-student conversations. Even during like breaks, they’re just seeing a better classroom environment.” Many students and teachers have commented on the classroom environment all speaking of a greater sense of connection and communication between students.
Faculty has also noted changes in behavior “When the phone’s not allowed, you can’t get to that message until after class…. As far as students communicating with each other that are up to no good or doing something they’re not supposed to do or skipping together, like meeting in the parking lot and hanging out,” notes Davondrian Wright,an engagement specialist at Washington.Wrights adds that there is also” a record amount of students passing classes in the engagement specialists rosters,” and as we continue to not have phones there are hopes that grades will continue to rise.
“A lot of our perception as a building relies around things like how we’re doing on the ACT or ISASP, and I do feel like if we can get the phones out and have complete focus on these tests that the public is going to be able to see what we’re able to do.” says Lemaster.
Student Robbie Andersen ‘24, gives his perspective on whether getting his phone is justified: “No, because I was just sitting in class, just doing our own work for 90 minutes. And I was listening to music and I got sent to the office.” He also talks about the negativity of the classroom and how the phone policy has made people more angry. Many students continue to express frustration over the phone policy, especially when instruction time is over and all work is completed. With teachers having no control over when the phone policy is enforced students find it hard to fill the time left vacant. While teachers say this time is good for students to socialize, many students view it as wasted time, truly showing how mixed the feelings are for the phone policy.
While it’s easy to make the faculty of our schools the villains of the story, they are willing to make the sacrifice. “Sometimes the student may look at us like we’re the enemy, but we’d rather you see us as the enemy and get your grades up and graduating on time versus ‘Oh these people are really cool and I like them,’ but they’re failing,” says Wright. Mr. Lemaster also talks about the difficulty of being the front face of such an opposed policy:
“To me, I would be the bad guy if I saw that students were disengaged and I let them fail….I know students might view it a little differently because we’re taking freedoms away, but from my vantage point, I’ve had enough observations to show that these devices were causing massive barriers.”
Overall we can recognize both sides of the argument. As a student, it’s hard to lose freedom in the classroom. Most of us believe that we can control my phone usage in a school setting. However, it is unwise to discount the facts behind the phone policy and the ways it is positively affecting the classroom. And while the majority may have control over how we use our phones, it would be selfish for us to not remember others who have a serious addiction that is going to be detrimental in the workforce and later in life.
