Phone policy is not new – but enforcement is – and students have mixed feelings.
As the never ending lecture proceeds, the restless Bearcat finds themself longing for any source of entertainment. Out of habit, the student reaches for their pocket and grabs their cell phone. In a sudden moment, the teacher calls out the Bearcat, takes their phone, and is told to get it from the security office at the end of the day. Roughly five to ten Bearcats fall victim to this enforced policy daily.
PRHS has decided to counter the ongoing phone addiction by cracking down on the usage of phones in the classroom with a uniform watchful eye from teachers and a swiftness with phone confiscation . Students have many mixed feelings about the new severe guidelines.
When a student is caught using their phone without permission from a teacher or staff these protocols are taken to action:
Many students are under the impression that the policy is new. But Assistant Principal Michael Godsey declared there are no changes on paper, “What’s interesting is that it’s the exact same policy as it was last year. Cell phones have never been allowed in class unless the teacher decides that it’s part of their lesson, not that it’s allowed by the teacher, but that it is part of their actual lesson,” Godsey said.
He also pointed out a newer enforcement procedure. “The discipline has been accelerated. It used to be a cumbersome, five step process. That took a lot of the time of the teachers, it was annoying to students, and it was annoying to us. It’s a lot cleaner now.
Godsey also stresses a major point about the purpose of enforcing the policy: “I don’t consider it a behavior issue. It is, but the primary thing is safety.” He clarifies by saying, “ I don’t think students and teachers can feel calm and relaxed when they think people might be taking pictures of them and posting them with funny memes, some that can be really insulting. Also, students were starting to drop illicit images onto certain students creating an unsafe educational environment.”
When asked if she believed phones contributed to an unsafe campus, Junior Ava Cox had this to say: “I believe phones had to do with the unsafe campus because, you know, online bullying is such a problem.”
Students are in agreement with the belief that the policy helps make the campus a more safe and professional place for students and staff.
On top of making the campus more safe, the intentions with the policy were also to create a more social environment. “And I’ve heard from students: it’s been kind of nice, instead of us going straight to our phones, we’re talking to each other,” Godsey said. The policy is enforced because administration wants students to connect with one another, and they argue that is almost impossible to do if everyone is glued to their phone.
However, some students claimed the policy does not contribute positively in a social aspect. “I just think everyone’s just kind of sitting there zoning out at this point. I mean, like, I just don’t think it’s a united, unified type thing,” Junior Tristen Salgado said
Some students just oppose the policy completely. “I think if you have your phone out once, or once or twice and it’s getting taken away for the entire day, that’s way too extreme,” senior Ashlyn Daugherty, said when asked about the strictness of the policy.
“We need our phones for certain things like photos or to submit things for class, and they’re very useful. I think as long as students aren’t doing any busy work, and we’re productive, I think it shouldn’t be a problem.”
As the policy becomes more enforced, students become more dissenting towards the severity of said guidelines. While students can appreciate the intentions of enforcing this policy, many claim it is just too harsh. We live in a digital age technology surrounds us everywhere: at home, at work, and even in school. The policy is not intended to eliminate technology overall in classes, but intervening when it is being used in a way not deemed appropriate for a learning environment.
