Warning: This article contains references to drugs.
As you must’ve heard teachers explain this time and time again, the new policy is that students aren’t allowed to take their phone out of their backpack anywhere (except the cafeteria during lunch time and the library for seniors with off-block). Teachers can report students without informing them. Two weeks of school have passed, and most people have already developed an opinion on the new policy. Some love it and others hate it to the very core of their soul. In comparison, last year, students were allowed to use it during passing time and in the cafeteria. Teachers would also let students go on their phones to scan QR codes or take pictures of notes. All in all, the phone policy was very laid-back, even though teachers were supposed to enforce it. Some could call it… salutary neglect. Unfortunately, the Great Groton Public School District decided to slam its fist down in order to improve grades, attendance, and engagement in school.
The wondrous author of this article can neither agree nor disagree with these new policies… However, she can propose changes. First off, salutary neglect. To those underclassmen who have never heard of the phrase, it refers to how Great Britain loosely enforced laws in the American colonies. Why does this matter? Well, that’s what happened for at least the past two years with the teachers openly being very relaxed about this policy. Students can’t even have their phones ON their bodies. Most of them obviously feel some unrest due to the sudden shift. At the start of last summer, this wasn’t even the originally proposed plan. The proposed plan was for the students to leave their phones locked up in their lockers. However, parents and students pushed back, and adjustments were made.
You must ask yourself, is this the furthest we can push? You cannot expect students to just suddenly stop the urge to grab their phones. Which is why I believe the entire ‘teachers don’t have to tell students they’ve been written up’ thing is utterly absurd. The whole thing feels quite cowardly. A tap on the shoulder after instruction time would be way better than finding out you were written up when you get sent to the office. You know what would be better than an immediate write-up? A nice warning. You cannot expect the drug addict to instantly be able to go “cold turkey” on drugs when it’s in their bag. After perhaps the first one or two years of implementing, could you maybe get no warnings? The consistency of the warnings from the teachers and administrators is also very off. Most students were told that teachers were not going to warn students before writing them up; yet, some teachers give warnings, and others just do. Mr.Pecka commented, “We [Teachers] have been instructed how to handle violations. We should be giving warnings, but we have been told to write things up silently if need be.”
Another good change is to allow kids to have their phones during passing time. How does this affect the learning environment? Is it perhaps to stop kids from taking videos of fights? If so, then why? Student fights happen fewer than ten times in the entire 180 days of school. Like most of us, we use passing time to quickly message friends or just check the time in general to make sure we’re getting to class on time. Not to mention the beginning of the year. What if a student forgets their schedule at home? Now they have to pull over, sit down, and hop on their laptops to figure out their schedule. I personally, not speaking for anyone else, have a class in the far back of the new building and have to speed walk to the old building to get to class on time. I often have to resist the urge to check what time it is on my phone. This can be countered by just wearing a watch, but if one has to buy a school watch, then honestly good for you; you have change to spare on a watch of all things when you have a digital one in your bag.
These opinions of mine are not unfounded, as many other students share my sentiments. Here are the honest opinions of Helen Miller, a junior, on the school policy.
ZT: How has the phone policy affected you so far?
HM: As someone with a learning disability, often, forgetfulness is my downfall. I will forget my phone in my pocket during class at say… the start of the day. I also use my phone for music, and while I can use my laptop, using my phone for music has become second nature to me. I understand that having my phone on me at all times is bad, and I swear if you see me on my phone, it’s because I forgot, not because I was scrolling away on TikTok…
ZT: Are there any changes you’d make to the phone policy?
HM: A warning, most definitely! I don’t know if they’re trying to be like zero tolerance or whatever… But I leave my phone in my pocket a lot during lunch, and I won’t remember until I feel a buzz in my pocket.
ZT: Do you think the phone policy is fair? Do you like it or hate it?
HM: Maybe it’s Mr. Morth getting to me, but I feel like it’s definitely a more stimulating environment to work in. While I think it was a harsh move, I understand why. But look. If these will be the formative years of my life, I want photos of my friends and me. I will bring a Polaroid if I have to. How are we going to get the yearbook photos? Cameras that the school has to pay for? Off topic, sorry. I don’t like that it feels like some teachers have a long list of names that they can’t wait to write up without saying anything. Like laughing evilly to themselves, Mr. Marcille said it best.
