At the beginning of the second semester, phone pouches went back into fashion as more teachers in several departments began to restrict phone use in classrooms.
Since the increase in technology use due to COVID-19, phone use in classrooms has also become more frequent. Some educators decided to clamp down on phone usage and follow through with a new cell phone practice for students.
“It’s going to help learning,” said OH Math Department Chair Matthew Borrowman in regards to the new practice. “It’s going to encourage and solicit more student-to-student discussion,” he added.
The new practices are not intended to be a punishment, but merely a way to control excessive phone use among students during class. This encourages more social interaction with peers and limits unnecessary distractions.
Students are mostly indifferent to the new practices, feeling as if it does not impact their in-class time that much. OH senior Nathan Barry said he “thinks it helps a little more, but besides that, [does] not really [impact him].”
However, students like OH senior Brenda Plata said that some cell phone functions, like listening to music in class, can help them concentrate more during classwork time. “If you want an exception for something like that, you should have the option for your parents to sign off on it,” said Plata.
According to an email from the OH Kinetic Wellness Department, students will not be permitted to have their phones during physical education classes. The email states that instead, students are “encouraged to lock their personal belongings up in their PE locker that is secured with their PE lock as well as [in] a secured locker room.”
“When we are done with our work and finish early, I feel like we should be able to use our phones,” said OH sophomore Aubrey McCormick. “Also when going out in the halls, we should be able to have it. It’s just like a safety thing.”
At the start of the semester, new procedures were explained to students and parents in emails from teachers implementing the practices, like those from teachers in the World Language Department. The practices explained that if there is a legitimate reason for a student to not want to put their phone away, for example, due to family emergencies, medical reasons, or if they just need to be on alert for a call or text, it can be permitted by their teacher if communicated accordingly.
“It’s just a conversation they need to have with the teacher, and [then] there’s no issue,” said Borrowman.
According to OH Dean Ryan Kabara, he “couldn’t say anything about the matter as a dean” as it is not a district-wide policy, but an individual teacher practice. He added that the deans do not decide on the consequences of student violation of the practice.
The new cell phone practices implemented by some OH teachers are similar to other high schools which have similar practices, like neighboring Yorkville High School.
“[Teachers] make us put our phones on these phone shelves and if we are caught with our phones on our person we’ll get written up [a] referral,” said Yorkville High School senior Louis Tan.
Tan added that the practices at his school have similarities to OH’s new phone practices, although Yorkville High School’s phone practice is more strict in Tan’s perspective.
“I think the policy is fair because we have been distracted by it, and students could receive a better education by not having their phones on them all the time,” said OH sophomore Lillian Bartlett.
The feedback and results of this practice have given more positive results than negative. In fact, most teachers who have implemented this practice in their classrooms have noticed far more positive results than negative.
“This practice now allows us to have the students put their phones off to the side, though, when we’re not using them,” said Timothy Taviani, a Business teacher at OH.
The new practices right now are not school-wide, only limited to some classes like world language classes, English classes, and math classes. There is not administration intervention with these practices in the classrooms.
“The new cell phone policies are specific to departments,” said Dean Susan Johnson about the new practices, stating that she has no true involvement.
At time of publication, there was no evidence that the new practices will extend to the whole school. It is still too early to assume this practice is a fool-proof method for students to excel in their classes and grades, as several interviewees indicated it might.
howdy ho, this is matt. i am a senior at oswego high school, i like hanging out my friends, parakeets, and fortnite.
So many sources!! Great to see such a wide spread of OH voices!
Great information!