Based on what I’ve heard about the enforcement of the phone policy, I noticed that students aren’t fans. I wanted to know others’ points of view, like some teachers or our principal because I was tired of hearing the same constant complaints from my peers. I wanted a new perspective. Some people may think that teachers have only a positive outlook on it, but you’d be surprised by what I learned. 

The first teacher I talked to was Ms. Baker. She teaches Chemistry Honors in the C200’s. Initially, she wasn’t necessarily happy when the policy was enforced so strictly on the first day. I noticed a pattern in the teachers I talked to: they weren’t pleased that they weren’t informed about the new way that they made sure the rule was followed. Ms. Baker spoke about how she understood that it is a state law that the governor had placed. Still, she did say this the day after it was strictly enforced: “I really do not agree with the way that we started on Monday with just coming into classes and taking phones from students that didn’t have the phone in their hand, or maybe it was on the table while they were working.” She continued, “I think teachers should have been given a heads-up that we’re going to start doing this.” However, she did notice that the policy seemed to be helping the students pay attention more in their classes. 

The next teacher I talked with was Mr. Early. Mr. Early has mixed opinions on these new steps to enforce this policy. “As a student in the mid-00s, we had a similar deal – we’d get asked to put it away once and then have it taken from us,” he said. He supported the idea of moving forward to carry out this policy. He did have some concerns, though. Like Ms. Baker, he was disappointed in the way that it began. He took matters into his own hands and contacted the administration about his concerns. “My bigger feedback I shared was just about entering someone’s space – I would have liked to have felt more respected as a professional in my own classroom,” he explained. To my surprise, Mr. Early feels that the enforcement hasn’t been particularly helpful to him as a teacher. “Truth be told, it hasn’t had much of an impact on me. However, I’d like to put an asterisk on that, because it really says more to the fact that my students are exceptionally disciplined and responsible in that regard and I am always on them if they have their phone out. Shout out to my 113 Algebra II and Precalc students!” 

Lastly, I talked with our principal, Dr. Malone. He has a more positive attitude than some others, as expected. He believes that “Phone usage has decreased dramatically. This has allowed our priority to be on instruction and school connection.” Dr. Malone, like many others,  wishes that we wouldn’t have to use this method to keep phones off and away. “I would have hoped that after 50 days of hearing a very consistent and clear message that more students would have made the choice to self-manage off and away without any need for confiscations,” he said.