As the school year starts, many students are raising eyebrows at the school’s updated phone policy.
In the student handbook, the punishment for the offenses now begins with an In School Suspension or ISS for a first offense.
The cell phones must be “off and away” during the school day with the exception of “phone recess.”
Members of the student body and members of the Poland teacher faculty share thoughts about the new “phone recess.” This phone recess has served as a designated time during the lunch period where students are allowed to use their phones at their own discretion.
From my observations some students choose not to immediately dig their heads in their phones and choose to continue the human interaction while at lunch. But on that same plane, there are students who choose to go straight for their phone and use it for the entire duration of the lunch period.
First, I spoke with Sophomore Kelly Memo. I questioned him about how he felt about the phone recess.
“I think it’s a better opportunity to learn, and I like it; it’s a good way to communicate during school.”
Memo didn’t hesitate with a response speaking on how he feels about the phone recess. The rest of the conversation with Memo was very positive on the behalf of the phone recess, with Memo even speaking on how he feels he works better since the policy change.
“Last year, there were a ton of students using air pods, and now, I feel like I get much more work done.”
I also got to speak with Sophomore Zach Ohlin and asked him about how he feels about the phone usage and if he thinks it has decreased at all.
He responded, “[The phone usage has] decreased but very slowly.”
He spoke on how he thinks it will take time to get to where the school would like the phone usage to be.
I had the honor to speak with Mr. Rowe from a teacher perspective. I asked him about how he felt about students’ work ethic and if he thinks they are more willing to work since the change.
His answer was very simple and to the point, “No.”
On the other side of the hallway, Miss Rokicki’s shared her insight on how she feels about students work ethics, and she had a different type of answer.
“I do. I really like it so far. Honestly, I was skeptical and nervous at first, but the beginning of the year has been nice; I thought we were gonna have a lot of issues, but I haven’t seen those, and I’ve seen much more engagement in my class alone, and I think its nice you guys get a reward to be on them.”
All and all, the phone usage is still a fresh and touchy topic of conversation, and it seems that there is no consensus when it comes to feelings of the policy.
