A recent change was made by administrators this past summer regarding mobile technology in an educational setting.
On page 25, the handbook states: “In order to support the classroom learning environment and minimize distractions that may cause a loss of understanding, we believe that personal electronic communication devices should not be used. Therefore, all cell phones, tablets, smart watches, and earbuds or other types of headphones should be turned off and put away in a student’s backpack or locker during class time, unless otherwise stated by the classroom teacher.”
“A lot [of the desire for change] came from teachers,” assistant principal Michael Shanley said. “Students’ lives are tied to their phones.”
Shanley plays a large role in the makings of our students handbook. He also evaluates teachers and takes care of concerns parents and faculty may have about their students. Shanley shares that most of the worries regarding cell phones come from our teachers because they cause a distraction within the classroom.
“There have always been distractions in the classroom,” math teacher and clinical director Vickie Graziano said. “Distractions aren’t new but phones are an especially hard distraction.”
Graziano would prefer no phones in an educational setting. She said that there are some good uses that they provide, but they are an overall distraction to students. She believes that by requiring phones to be put away during class, she is helping students make a good decision.
“I think it was definitely a problem that we needed to adjust. It was just figuring out how we were going to implement it,” junior Angle Yin said. Angel served as a member of the student handbook committee that met in May.
Yin said students on the committee influenced the policy by advocating for students to still have their phones on them.
“I think they [adults on the handbook committee] were planning on keeping [phones] in lockers, and students narrowed it down to let’s just keep them in our bag because we still do need our phones,” Yin said.
2023 graduate Oluwatimisire Lawal was also a member of the student handbook committee. Lawal agreed phones were a distraction to students, and shared this with administrators.
“I would have liked to keep them as any student would,” Lawal said. “But I 100% understand why faculty would want to make a rule regarding phones.”
Lawal said he hoped the new phone policy would help people to focus more.
“People still have their phones on them but keep it in their bag,” Lawal said. “[We can all have] an ‘Out of sight out of mind’ mindset.”
Because of how connected teenagers are to their phones, this policy is still an ongoing process as students adapt to the new norm.
“Our generation is very closely tied to our mobile devices whether we like it or not,” Lawal said. “We use our phones for any and everything we do. It is a fact we are attached to our phones whether we like it or not. It is a part of our lives now. You need a phone to survive at this point.”