At the start of the school year, our principal, Dr. Wright, shockingly announced the school-wide ban on phones in the classroom. This news ended up taking the school by storm and had lots of our students upset. The school claims that the removal of easily accessible distractions can make improvements to students’ grades and attentiveness. To put this to the test, we asked teachers who were once pretty lenient on phone usage to compare this year to their last.
Mr. Skeen, an English 11 and Brt Lit teacher, has tightened up his rules when it comes to phone usage in class. Skeen said, “It always depended on the context, I never wanted students to be on their phones during instructional time, but after that, it becomes a case by case.”
When asking Skeen if there is a difference in students being more attentive during class time he said, “Yes but not by that much”
Finally, when asked if he thought the policy was successful he said, “My kids tell me that a lot of teachers enforce it and I think that allowing kids to still have them on their person even though they are not supposed to be out is too much of a temptation.”
Mrs. Shroeder, the engineering and drafting teacher, has always let students on their phones. Her class structure is set up to where you have a workload due each week and you have to get it all done by Friday. her approach to the policy is that it teaches students to learn a life skill that will help guide their future.
“I don’t police my students on their phones. I want to teach my students time management and when students are not getting their work done and are on their phones I try to help guide them in the right direction,” said Shroeder.
A teacher who held a positive view of the phone ban is science teacher Mr. Darden. He notes, “Yes when I look up I see more eyes on me,” indicating some improved student attention this year. Darden then reveals that students who receive good grades in his class get more lenient treatment on phones.
The phone policy may not be as effective as the school intended, but if all teachers were on board and phones were out of hand’ reach, evidence supports that the phone ban could prove successful.
