No Wi-Fi Article

Article: No Wi-Fi Article

Writers: Nayleen Vue & Aly Ghenciu

I’m sure many remember when, on an otherwise normal November day, our High School shut off its public wifi for all students. People were shocked and “protests” even arose. At least, it now seems that most have become accustomed to it. 

To delve into the situation; when phone usage in classes went up at our school, around last year, the phone policy was changed. Phones were only to be used in passing or non-instructional time. Technically, this is still the case, even without accessible wifi. On a Friday, over the loudspeaker, the decision to take away school wifi for all outside devices was announced. This causes phones to load slowly and not send messages while at school. Some teachers say they have seen lower cell phone usage in school from the new policy, while others see resistance.

For example, students are upset because personal technology won’t connect to the school wifi anymore and this makes it unusable. Hotspots have been tried, but for people using devices like iPads or laptops, most had to resort back to their school-issued Chromebooks.

Because of this, some students even fought the new policy. Petitions have been made, without success no matter how many signatures they receive. A “bad parking day” was even organized in rebellion. With the drivers parked in the grass or over multiple parking spots, people made a statement. Most also achieved getting towed. The school's police officers supervised the parking lot and squashed the attempt at a protest.

The most similar event that has happened at this school was the implementation of “Smartpass” last year. Smartpass is an app that makes students electronically request a pass to leave the classroom so teachers can safely know their whereabouts. Still, people claim it’s an invasion of privacy. People also dislike how there is a set amount of passes that can be used each week. Additionally, there is a restricted amount of time to be used for each pass before it goes “overtime”. Another unpopular feature is the limit of people allowed on passes. This causes students to wait in lines, no matter when they request to leave. A petition was made, much like with the wifi this year, but never achieved anything. In the end, everyone got adjusted to it. The question is whether it’ll be the same with the wifi policy. 

       The point still stands. It’s not as if no Wi-Fi is a drastic change for our school. Even so, everybody is still working to adjust. See what students like you, teachers, and even Mr. Luedtke have to say about it. 

TEACHERS: 

• As a teacher, what do you think about the “wifi situation”? 

Mr. Imrie: I actually support it because it’s great how kids are only on school-monitored devices. There’s less temptation to be on your phone. 

Mrs. Peters: I absolutely love the fact that we no longer have wifi. Now, students are more engaged. However, they are trying to find internet at all costs…

Ms. Sorenson: Great, but I also can’t connect to the wifi…soooo

Mr. V: I’m in favor of the school’s adopted policy. Being a teacher for 20 years, I know there’s really no need for kids to have access to their personal devices.

• If you were a student today, how would you feel if you got wifi taken away?

Mr. Imrie: When I was a student, cell phones weren’t a thing. I’m sure it’s an adjustment to some of people’s “freedom” being taken away.

Mrs. Peters: I’m sure I’d be upset, but there’s a privilege here. In Minnesota, they’re actually taking all phones away from schools.

Ms. Sorenson: I mean, I wouldn’t like it… but I also had a flip phone in high school.

Mr. V: I’d probably be upset, but it’s not my wifi that’s being taken away.

• Do you believe this was a positive or negative decision?

Mr. Imrie: As a teacher and as a parent, I believe this was a good decision to curve cell phone use.

Mrs. Peters: 100% good decision. I personally see an improvement in class. Students are looking at phones less and being more engaged.

Ms. Sorenson: Great decision. Kids are addicted to and constantly on their phones!

Mr. V: I think it was a good decision that we will all get used to. Like Smartpass, there were growing pains, but I like the policy.

STUDENTS:

• How did you feel about the situation?

Emme Torgersen (Freshman): I feel like it was necessary, but there were also a lot of rumors about why the wifi was taken away…

Hannah Wilson (Sophomore): I’m not really happy about it. I feel like only the people who caused the wifi to get taken away should be punished, not the whole school.

Saffryn Behr (Junior): All I know is that the second it was announced, it was like chaos for a bunch of people. Because a lot of people relied on the Wi-Fi here. I don't have my phone out during the school day, so this doesn't really affect me. But that's my way of contacting my parents if I need them. I can't contact them in the school building unless there is Wi-Fi.

Holt Walker (Senior): I wasn’t happy about it, and I don’t think it’s gonna do that much. I feel like students can just regulate their phone time and if they can’t, they should suffer the consequences themselves.

• How has the no wifi at school affected you so far?

Emme Torgersen (Freshman): Once, when I was trying to find a translation I needed for music it wouldn’t work on my Chromebook or phone, so that made me really upset. 

Hannah Wilson (Sophomore): I literally can’t text my parents anything, nothing sends.

Kira Sonnee (Junior): I don't have Wi-Fi here. I don't have Wi-Fi at work. And so it's costing my family extra money and it's costing me my data just to be able to contact my parents at school. On top of that, I think it's horrific that they compared us complaining about our Wi-Fi to the Gaza Strip and Ukraine shootings. That is absolutely abysmal and quite frankly disgusting to me because what's the point? Like taking away our Wi-Fi isn't going to do anything to help those people. All you're doing is guilt tripping us. No, instead of guilt tripping us and making us feel like awful people because of things that concern us, tell us why you took away the Wi-Fi in the first place instead of just criminalizing us. We still don't know the reason to this day.

Holt Walker (Senior): Yeah, during passing time I can’t look at any apps on my phone like Instagram and I can’t listen to any music to help me focus. 

• In your opinion, which was worse, no wifi or smartpass?

Emme Torgersen (Freshman): SMARTPASS, I don’t like being tracked while going to the bathroom. I also don’t like waiting 15th in line, it’s really annoying.

Hannah Wilson (Sophomore): SMARTPASS, sometimes I need longer than 7 minutes to leave class. Also, the fact that there are only a certain amount of times I can go is annoying.

Meredith Tille (Junior): To me, no Wi-Fi, because at least with the smart passes, if we really need to, we can ask a teacher to make us a smart pass. We can't ask a teacher to give us Wi-Fi. At the very least, we've got more workarounds for the smart pass, but for Wi-Fi, there's really nothing we can do. 

Holt Walker (Senior): Hmmm…that’s a tough one, I choose NO WIFI because I use music a lot to help me focus on my work, and without any wifi, I can’t listen to anything.

• Do you think that taking away the school wifi was the right thing to do?

Emme Torgersen (Freshman): No, people are still gonna find ways to use their phones.

Hannah Wilson (Sophomore): No, our wifi shouldn’t be gone completely. We should be able to use our phones in passing time but put them away when a teacher asks.

Jayden Brohmen-Morgen (Junior): No, I think there could have been better ways to go             about the Wi-Fi. I think if there were troubled students that had certain sites on their Chromebooks or brought other computers to school, I think you could take away the computers that they brought to school if they're causing a problem.

Holt Walker (Senior): No, I feel like they could’ve given us more warnings until it got to a point where they would have to take it away. 

PRINCIPAL:

• When you announced that the school wifi would be shut off, were you aware or expecting the amount of rebellion the students had against it?

Mr. Luedtke: No, because we have not had a lot of rebellion. I know kids put a change.org petition up with only a few kids on it. From a school board and district standpoint, not just me, we’re trying to practice when and where to use technology in the school day vs. being a school that bans it exclusively.

• Many students argued that they weren’t able to call their parents or guardians during an emergency because of the no wifi. How do you respond to this?

Mr Luedtke: There’s a thing called a telephone that we still have access to call parents on. Obviously there are landlines here. Wifi doesn’t stop your phone from working either. I can still make a phone call anywhere in the building, I’m assuming our students can too. 

• If you were a student today, how would you feel if you got the wifi taken away?

Mr Luedtke: I’d be equally ticked off. My job is not to be the bad guy, my job is to make morally sound decisions that are in the best interest educationally for adolescent students. I know that deep down our kids, even though they’re upset, know me well enough that I make decisions that are the best long term.

• From a student's perspective, a teacher's perspective, and a principal's perspective, do you feel that taking away the wifi was the right decision and will improve the future of River Falls High School?

Mr Luedtke: It’s a step in the right direction. There are districts and states banning cell phones exclusively in schools. I’m trying to find a progressive way to ween you off of phones. I see the educational value of technology like that in our pockets, but I also see the distraction factor. If you wanna look at our student achievement results, I can tell you that they are slowly eroding. My job is to have strong academically sound students graduate from River Falls High School and be competent adults in college, tech college, world of work, and all of that moving forward.