Students adapt to a new phone mandate

The school administration enacted a new phone ban this school year in order to comply with the recent executive order from Governor Tina Kotek.

On July 2, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed an executive order which required all Oregon schools to create policies banning phones during school hours. Many states across the country have begun banning phones during school hours like New York and Texas. States are claiming that their reasons all stem to the fact that phones have become quite harmful to many students' learning. 

Many students learned of the new policy via a video on the DDHS Instagram account just a few weeks before school, describing what the new policy would be like here at Douglas. 

Principal Jennifer Buscher said in the September Newsletter that the policy was to “Improve focus and attention, increase learning time and reduce stress and support overall well-being.” The policy itself states that phones must be “off and away” from 7:40 a.m.–2:30 p.m, with the phones completely off or placed in airplane mode and stored in a backpack. The policy lists that “Cell phones, headphones, earbuds, tablets, speakers or other amplified devices, laser pointers, cameras, or camera phones” are not allowed during school hours and must be put in either the student’s bag or a locker. 

Initially, a student caught with their cell phone would be told to put it away and it would be marked on 5-Star as their first offense, but it seems that the school now considers Buscher’s daily intercom announcement on phones to be the first offense and all students have been warned. This means that now a student seen with their phone may have it taken away from them, even if it is the first offense.

While Kotek’s order only requires phones, smartwatches, and similar devices to be banned, the school district made a distinction to include headphones. In the wake of these bans, many schools have had a wave of analog ways of listening to music. Many students have begun using Walkmans, Discmans, iPods, and more in order to listen to their favorite music without the internet. 

“I’ve actually been using one since halfway through last year,” said sophomore Ollie Truhlar, who’s been using an iPod to listen to their music. “I just really like the vibe and the feel of it.” Truhlar said that he thinks it's fair but thinks that the school is “enforcing it way too hard,” and taking almost anything with a screen on it. 

“I think taking them away in the halls is stupid,” said Truhlar. “I’m just walking to class, there’s no reason for me to not be listening to music.”

“The policy is still being developed and adopted by the school board and the district,” said head of student management Joe Talley. “I think what ends up being the final policy will be different. The board is going to do the best it can to give guidance to the schools, with the bottom line being cell phones and all distractions to learning are off and away.” 

According to information from the Student Management Office, as of Sept. 26, there have been 416 second offences, 79 third offences and 12 4+ offences, meaning around 15 percent of the student body has had their phone already confiscated for one reason or another this year.