The Feehan administration started the second semester off with a bang: a new cell-phone policy to promote distraction-free learning. With this change, students are required to leave their phones in a designated area within the classroom when leaving the room, which may be in order to use the bathroom or to go to the office. On top of that, students must complete a form on their phones prior to leaving the room that asks for their name, the room they are currently in, and their destination while verifying that their phone is being left in the classroom. Previously, students were asked to sign out on paper, which allowed them to take their phones with them on these trips.
Although cell phones being used in the hallways and the bathrooms was never encouraged previously, this new policy puts a strict end to these behaviors altogether. For this reason, the policy has led to mixed reactions, with many students finding the signing-out process inconvenient and many teachers enjoying the new distraction-free learning environment.
To find out why this policy was implemented, we interviewed both Vice Principals of Student Life here at Feehan, Mr. Grant and Mrs. Smith. When asked about the reasoning behind their decision to introduce this policy, Mr. Grant and Mrs. Smith both agreed that the main factor was keeping students in class by limiting distractions. “We felt like it was manageable for us, mid-school year, to be able to make this change and kind of set a tone that students should not during class periods be leaving with their phones,” said Mrs. Smith. By requiring a more complex process of signing out, they aim to prevent unnecessary trips out of the classroom that would take away from students’ learning.
Mr. Grant also stated that this policy is intended to keep students safe by monitoring their whereabouts more effectively than the old sign-out system. He explained that signing out on paper wasn’t easy to keep track of: students’ handwriting often wasn’t legible, and the information written wasn’t accurate, making it significantly harder to track students.
The new policy streamlines the process of finding students throughout the school day, according to Mrs. Smith. The online forms completed by students are translated into a live spreadsheet, which allows administration to easily find students during an emergency and track consistent trips out of the classroom. This aspect of the new policy may have come as a surprise to many, but as Mrs. Smith reminded students, “We always wanted to know where you were going. We always wanted to hold you accountable. Now, we’re asking you to do it digitally rather than on paper.”
When asked if they have seen any changes after implementing this policy, both Mrs. Smith and Mr. Grant suggested that overwhelmingly positive strides have been made toward their ultimate goal of limiting phone use. “The first week we did it, teachers reported to us that significantly less students were asking to go to the bathroom,” said Mrs. Smith.
With the introduction of this policy also came some issues, however: Mr. Grant expressed that many students weren’t being honest with the new sign-out forms, and instead were choosing to not complete the form at all. A few students even decided to sneak their phones into the bathroom anyway, which often resulted in a detention. Mr. Grant clarified that this policy is not meant to be a huge change for students: “It’s an extra step of something different, but I think once you’re adjusted to it, then it’s routine and procedures.”
To get another perspective on this topic, we also interviewed Ms. Corcoran, a teacher here at Feehan. Echoing the sentiment we heard from Mrs. Smith and Mr. Grant, she stated, “I think any step in the direction of reducing access to cell phones is a good and healthy one … I think that access to cell phones interrupts the learning process.” As a psychology teacher, Ms. Corcoran understands more than anyone the detrimental effects cell phones can have on students’ learning. Since the introduction of the new policy, she has observed a decrease in the number of her students asking to leave to use the bathroom- a step in the right direction.
In addition to its positive impact on students’ learning experiences, Ms. Corcoran also highlighted another benefit of the new policy: safer environments outside of the classroom. “Having devices out in a shared bathroom space creates safety concerns, so I think bathrooms in general should be a devices-away zone.”
What do students think of the new cell phone policy? We talked to two Feehan students about their experiences and opinions. One anonymous student questioned the effectiveness of the new policy, saying, “I just don’t really think people are going to follow it, especially the scan-out sheets.” Another student expressed dislike at the fact that the policy calls for students to leave their phones at the front of the classroom rather than in their backpacks. The same student also raised the point that phones may be helpful to have in the bathroom/hallways in the case of an emergency. When asked what they would change about the policy if they could, both students indicated a preference for the previous paper sign-out sheet.
There is no doubt that Feehan’s new cell phone policy has received mixed reactions since first being introduced. The approach has garnered significant support from teachers & administration, who cite the positive impact it has had on students’ learning by promoting focus in class and limiting distractions/unnecessary trips outside of the classroom. Conversely, some students feel that the new policy is overly restrictive, and that the school has done away with a perfectly satisfactory system in part to upset the status quo.
As schools across the country navigate the challenge of balancing the increased prevalence of technology with the need for productive learning environments, it remains to be seen what will become of this new policy in the future. For now, Feehan students are encouraged by Mrs. Smith to think of this, “not as a change in policy, but a change in procedure.”
Thank you to Mrs. Smith, Mr. Grant, and Ms. Corcoran for their help with this article!
