The beginning of the new school year at Herriman High brought with it new changes to a policy that, to many people, came out of nowhere. It’s called the Personal Electronic Devices Policy. The rules about phone restriction has not been a new subject in school, it’s always been a problem, and there has been research done about this topic. The policy states that, “It has been proven that students who are on cell phones or other electronic devices when it is not part of the instructional lesson, are not fully engaged in learning.”
From the teacher’s perspective, they agree with the phone policy. Miss Wall puts it the best way possible, “The phone policy is a step in a positive direction that will help the teachers keep students more engaged and attentive in the class.” Miss Wall always had rules about phones in her class. She shares that the phone policy changed quite a bit recently. Now it’s on paper, other than only having a verbal rule, it will hopefully cement the rule in place to make sure it will continue to improve the student body in this school.
The second view comes from the students of Herriman high. Reagan White, a senior at Harriman High School said, “I have seen classes more organized than they were last year.” It’s probably too early to take a poll on how students and staff feel, because we’re only two weeks in, but it’s good to get others’ opinions so far. Reagan White also said in her statement that “Teachers all over the school have their own things, and their own differences in each of their classes. They do that because choosing their own system to teach works better for them. How all the teachers have set the course for the school year seems to be very organized and thought out.” She also said, with her phone put away, that she is learning easier in her classes.
One student said, “All of the teachers haven’t been upholding the policy… Nothing has changed in any of my classes. The teachers have asked them to get off their phones, and then when they don’t, nothing happens… I have not seen one of my teachers even take a phone from any of the students that are on their phones in my classes.” So from this point of view, classes which don’t uphold the policy haven’t made any improvement in class in the past two weeks.
Macie, who goes to Cottonwood High School, has struggled in math for many years. Since math has been such a battle, her parents signed her up for a tutoring class after school several days per week to help her understand math a little better. This tutor also came with a hefty price tag of 300 dollars a month.
About a month ago, Macie broke her phone, so she couldn’t play on it anymore. The strangest thing happened as soon as she broke her phone, she was almost instantly able to understand math more because she was without the distraction of her cell phone. Now, she is excelling in math and has an A for the term.
I can’t tell you what you should believe or what you should choose. But I hope this information can be helpful, so you can choose the right side for you.
