Opinion

Why the New Cell Phone Policy is Causing More Problems than Solutions

Reporter Cara O' Biern

As of the new school year, Gloucester High School has come out with a new strict policy: no phones allowed to be out or seen on school grounds during any part of the school day. If students are caught teachers are told to confiscate phones and put them in a tagged plastic bag, then call security to take the phone to the office. Students are not even allowed to have their phones during class changes or lunches. Because of this change in policy, the students at GHS have been rightly upset and confused. Students should be allowed to have their phones and treated more like responsible young adults, while still being respectful of teacher’s phone rules in the classroom.

The new cell phone policy taking over GHS is causing issues with students that could have been avoided. The new policy allows the teachers and other staff of the high school to take a student’s phone if they see it, even if the phone can be seen in a pocket. The staff feel that the students would not be able to follow the policy if the policy had only been slightly adjusted, so they got rid of all phones at all times during the day.

Students should be allowed to have their phones during the school day so that it can teach them to become responsible adults who can take care of other things, such as their education and making it to classes on time. The new policy insists that students are irresponsible and cannot determine when is a good or bad time to use their phone. GHS emphasises that they are working towards preparing students for college and the adult world, but how could the students be truly prepared if things that are a part of our technology-filled world are being taken away because some teachers and staff are tired of correcting the students’ wrong behavior?

Phones should be allowed at lunch and during class changes. Lunch and class changes are the few moments of the day where students do not have to be engaged and they deserve a break, even if that means being on their phone. At lunches and class changes, students are not taking part in any educational program or school activity, so the problem of distraction or interference because of the use of a cell phone is not applicable.

Some classes, such as Yearbook and Journalism, benefit from the use of the camera on the phone for things such as interviews and pictures for the yearbook and newspaper. Without being able to use the camera or voice recorder on the phone, it makes interviews a hassle. It is hard to write down an interviewee’s exact words as fast as they are speaking them, which could make the interview uncredible if the interviewer gets a word or two wrong.

There are many more benefits for students when it comes to letting them use their phones. Students are responsible when it comes to their own education and they would have to deal with the consequences if they disregarded a teacher’s classroom rules. Being allowed to have phones at lunch and class changes would not have an impact on the classroom.