Photo by Julian Pasquinelli
By Julian Pasquinelli
As the Willow School enters its first year under a new name and new administration, some policies have changed–one of those being the cell phone policy. The handbook states that all cell phones be collected during class and remain in the sleeves until dismissal. Outside of class time, students are now allowed to use their phones responsibly. Although this policy was introduced last spring, it hasn’t become strictly enforced until this year. The hope is that strict enforcement during class improves learning, but relaxing the usage policy outside the classroom will be a fair and reasonable compromise with students who like to stay connected with each other and family. Changes such as these, of course, elicit different feelings and opinions from faculty and students.
“I think the new cell phone pockets are absolutely essential because the last two years of people taking their phones out during class made it hard to teach and for students to learn because they weren’t focused,” said English teacher Ms. Crockett. “I even had students pull their phones out during a quiz last year, without even thinking about it. The norms for behavior have totally disappeared over the last couple years, and we have to reset them.”
The common consensus is that phones can be a useful tool in the classroom, but on the other hand, they distract both students and teachers from the goal of school—learning.
Mr. Walther, a sociology and history through film teacher says, “Yeah it’s great. Anything that’s going to get kids off their phones is going to be beneficial to the learning environment.”
Most of the feedback from this policy change has been positive. Students enjoy their ability to use their phones during free time and faculty enjoy the phones being put up during class. However, some people think that more should be done.
“I understand where the administration is coming from with the phone policy. I mean, I respect it in a way, but the only thing I would say I have against it is that I like to listen to music during class, and it helps me focus. Then again, I can look on the flipside and I can say that a lot of kids are distracted in class. But personally, I have been more into my work without having my phone near me,” says sophomore Xavier Ramsey. “Out of respect for the teachers, we should have some sort of restriction, maybe not the same as we are using right now. Maybe we change it a little, but I think the one we are using right now is effective. It’s good and bad in its own way.”
Most people agree that having your phone near you is distracting and agree with these restrictions. Although, other faculty think that more can be done as well.
“Most of the changes I wanted to make have already been made,” stated Principal Hill. “What I would like to do is get student input on it after a little bit of time has passed, like after a couple of months get some input on what do y’all think, and then we can go from there.”
