by Samantha Anderson, 10th
The new phone policy at JPS has received a divided response. Some say the policy is “harsh” and “unfair,” while others think it’s a good incorporation of the school rules. Here at the Hoofbeat, we asked students, parents, and faculty their thoughts on the new policy.
When asked if the new phone policy is beneficial, an elective teacher and band director said, “Yes and no, So, I feel like it’s beneficial because of a lot of the stuff that happened on campus. I feel like it kind of stems from messages, like it kind of stems from social media. However, with social media, it could actually be beneficial. Like for example: For teachers, sometimes there may be an activity that you’d want your students to do that might require the use of technology, or have the use of technology, or just needing a phone and when students can basically promote or post what Murrah High School has going on at different clubs and taking pictures and creating memories, it can be like good propaganda for the school.”
Many freshmen students, like Samiya Tate and Krislyn Jones, worry about not being able to reach their parents in case of an emergency. Tate explained, “Well, to be honest, I don’t really like it because at the same time, if something goes down we can’t really have our phones out and anything can happen at the wrong time.”
Krislyn Jones added, “I feel like it’s not good. Like we need our phones especially because like if we need to contact our parents like if somebody is shooting up the school, you know, we can’t get to the phone in the front office so we need our phones like I just feel like they need to let us have and use our phones.”
Another Murrah scholar said, “I think it’s necessary because a lot of us broke the rules, but it’s a little extreme…some of the changes…cause I dont know anybody that puts their phone in their shoe but it’s necessary for people that definitely have broken the rules.”
Dr. DeRouen (Dr. D), both a Murrah English teacher and parent, voiced: “As a teacher, I am appreciative of the policy in general because it definitely has made a big difference in classroom attentiveness and what we’re able to get done. I don’t have to constantly be asking students to get off their phones which takes up a lot of time, and I think a lot of teachers would agree that the amount of time spent sometimes trying to police the phone usage takes from the amount of time we have to focus on what we’re actually trying to teach. So everybody wins when phones are not out. I think there are some grey areas in the school day – probably finding some challenges particularly at the end of the day when students are trying to go home, there might be a kind of issue that parents would need to get a hold of them for, and I think that for those issues, we need to come up with some kind of policy for those.”
Mr. Delapo, an algebra teacher at Murrah, mentioned “Just this week my son was caught having a cellphone and for me it’s okay. Aside from being a teacher I’m also a parent. I know the main part of being a student is to concentrate on what is being presented by the teacher and, you know, phones can also be used for cheating, and also disturb the students’ attention. So for me it is ok. Just wait, we waited until the phone was returned and when I looked at my son he said ‘I learned a lesson.’ So, let’s say two things for me like he learned a lesson at the same time teaching him to be responsible for his actions. So I am 100% sure he won’t make the same mistake again with having the phone out during the class.”
Other teachers at Murrah shared their views on the cell phone policy, as well. One teacher declared,“I believe that the cell phone policy at Murrah High School is really stemming from the district based on how they decided cell phones are to be banned in the school’s, period, and they’re basing this particular banning off of scores and that’s one of the things from a teacher’s perspective that we look at, but then from a student’s perspective, it seems to be punishment. Now, I believe that a majority of the students do understand that when you’re in class and there’s instruction going on, you should not be on your cellphones, but the policy has gotten even stricter until it can’t be out at all, period, whether it’s at lunch or whether they’re walking the halls.”
Mrs. Ballard, an AP Lit, AP Seminar, and CCR English 4 teacher mentioned, “I was really excited to hear that we were gonna have a no cell phone policy. I was a little shocked by how long the phones were gonna be taken away from the students but I really knew that we had to do something to address cell phone use in the school based on last year. I believe it’s beneficial because I have way more engagement this year, students are doing the work I am asking them to do, they’re staying alert, they’re focused, they’re not distracted, there’s way less drama that happens because of all the texting. Overall, there’s just been a wonderful improvement in the classroom.”
Parents also had a few things to add. Many chose to remain anonymous, but this is what they had to say:
“I disagree with the new phone policy. I think that if parents are allowing children to take their phones out in school then they should be able to use these phones, not in class, but they should be able to use them in case of an emergency. I think it’s unfair to the students to have their phone taken for the amount of time and that the policy needs to be reconsidered. I think it’s not beneficial. It could lead to lawsuits and I think that they didn’t really think that through because these devices cost an upward of a thousand+ dollars.”
When another parent was asked about the new JPSD phone policy, she simply stated “I hate it.” When asked if it was beneficial she said, “No.”
However, some parents think the new JPS phone policy should remain and is helpful to their scholars’ learning. “I think it’s a good thing, students should not be at school using their devices, they should be there to learn.”
“From my understanding, I don’t know if the policy was actually new but it seems like they’re trying to enforce it. I understand the reasons by the or for the enforcement, because at times it does seem like students can be distracted by phones. However, in my opinion as a parent, if we’re going to have a policy for enforcement then we should also make sure that the phone lines are answered consistently by the administration at the school um and that there is a clear communication for if you have to come pick your scholar up from the school. Sometimes when I come, there are opportunities or times when it seems as if there isn’t really a clear organized process about where to locate students and I have even been told before, ‘Just call or text them on their phone,’ and that’s something that they’re not supposed to do.
“So, I get the premise behind why there is a policy. I know that it’s for safety. I know that it’s for a meaning, you know making sure people aren’t cyber-bullying or using the phones in a adverse way. However, as a parent, I am sometimes concerned about, you know, safety, because I would like to make sure that I’m able to get in touch with my scholar, in the event there’s an emergency or in the event there’s something that’s happened. I don’t think there has been a nailed-out, a very, well communicated plan about just making sure that there’s a right communication for my scholar.”
Overall, the Murrah community has mixed opinions about the new JPS phone policy. The JPS phone policy could be helpful and teach scholars to pay more attention to class instead of texting on their phones. At the same time, if there was an emergency where a scholar needed to contact their parent(s), they would be unable to if their phone was taken simply because they had it out in class. Although the cellphone policy has received a lot of diverse commentary, the decision of the district remains unchanged with their goal to minimize cellphone usage.