policy – AHS NEWSPAPER

Teachers Enforce Cell Phone Policy

October 4, 2024

Ariana Teasdale || STAFF WRITER

Last year, Scott Darlington, former assistant principal, received a grant to investigate cell phone usage in school. He gathered teachers to create a specific committee. In May, phone boxes were brought into classrooms.

Technology teacher Daniel Brennan was responsible for creating a video that was played before the guest speaker that appeared last year. There were four other teachers, including history teacher Ruth Masters, science teacher Seema Gupte, and math teacher Shawn Remy on the committee.

“Ms. Masters was keeping the faculty informed, Ms. Gupte was [keeping] the students [informed and] spearheading bringing the guest speaker in, and Mr. Remy worked with parent communication,” Brennan explained.

Brennan is trying harder to enforce the cell phone policy in his classes. After researching and looking at statistics, he started using the metal cell phone caddy. “I teach film and video and so we use [phones] a lot. We try to find a healthy balance, but for me, it’s class by class. As long as you’re being respectful and not distracting other people I think there are ways to make it work. If we cannot follow that, it’s tough to not use the phone caddy,” he said.

Although she has emailed, made signs, and provided boxes, Masters thinks some teachers are not enforcing it as much as they should. “Most teachers have the tools to implement the policy, but whether they’re actually doing it? I do not know,” she explained. “I still see some kids in the hallway with their phones, so that’s telling me teachers probably aren’t [enforcing the policy].”

Art teacher Emily Ross enforces the policy a bit differently: “During direct periods of instruction, the cell phone needs to be away, and I’m pretty adamant about that, but during work time, on occasion, students might need to use them.”

Ross explained how her class is a visual arts classroom, so looking at pictures for references is important; however, she does also recognize the distraction cell phones impose.“I think having stricter rules during the academic day is important because they can be a distraction to learning and it’s really hard for people to multitask,” Ross said. ‘I’m not 100 percent no-phones in school, but I think people need to learn how to use them effectively because we’ll have them for the rest of our lives.”

Junior Noor Bhatti feels a similar way. “I think a phone box could definitely help people that get distracted really easily but I think for the majority of people it’s kind of unnecessary,” she said. Bhatti says the majority of her teachers do not strictly enforce the policy. She also thinks that it’s easy to get distracted on a computer too and so using her phone does not affect her productivity as much.

Some students, however, find the phone caddy helpful. “I really have been liking the phone box system.” sophomore Anika Abbot said.“I am more focused and attentive in class. Although I do appreciate the freedom of keeping phones in our bags, I think for learning purposes the phone box is extremely beneficial.”.

Articles Community

New Policy, New Opinions

December 6, 2023

By Saarvi Deshwal
Staff Writer

The new phone policy at AHS has sparked mixed feelings in teachers and students alike. While some say it promotes a more focused classroom environment, others argue that it disrupts their ability to communicate with friends and classmates.

With rising concerns that students were being distracted by their devices and not learning to their full potential, the policy was established by a group of teachers, parents, administrators, and the former principal, Caitlin Brown, last year. The hope was that students would be able to put aside their cell phones during class time and would engage in learning.

“We also want students to be freed from some of the pressures of social media and interacting with their friends when they’re learning,” said Assistant Principal Scott Darlington. “When they have the phone away, they can’t see it, they can’t hear it, [and so] they’re not pressured to have to respond to all the social media.”

Teachers and students are seeing changes in the environment in classrooms. In previous years, “the cell phone policy was more lax,” said Latin teacher Jiyoung Song. Before the policy was enforced, Song didn’t make students put away their phones during class times. Now, “it is different. Not so much in the types of activities we do or the way they interact with each other, but I think it just fosters a more focused learning environment.”

When the policy was first introduced, “I was pretty upset,” commented sophomore Julia Coviello. “But I get it, though. You shouldn’t be able to have your phone out in class, but for H-blocks? I feel like that’s drawing the line a bit.” Many students are complaining about their teachers enforcing the phone policy, especially in H-blocks. While it is a time to study and catch up on homework, students are responsible for how they spend their time.

Sophomore Anika Nagle agrees, deeming that the phone policy “has not made a difference whatsoever.” She adds that “[the] real impact the policy has had is during h-blocks, and it turned out to be really ineffective. Students sometimes need their phone either to contact a classmate about a project they’re working on together or to submit assignments and when it’s taken away, they can’t do that.”

Alternatively, however, sophomore Meghna SinghJoglekar thinks that the phone policy has had a positive impact on the learning environment in classrooms at AHS. “Honestly, I think that it’s a good idea to have a policy because, otherwise, I think it’s hard for people to control their urge to go on their phones [during class],” she said.

Andover High School applied for and got a grant through the state of Massachusetts to “address student cell phone use in schools,” said Darlington, adding that the school also hopes to provide cubbies for cell phones in every classroom. “We’re trying to see if we can find one that could also charge the phone, so the student could get some benefit from that.” Although it is not promised, Darlington hopes that they will be able to acquire them.

In the end, the phone policy at Andover High School was established in the best interest of the students. “Rather than just giving you what you want, we want to give you what you need,” commented Darlington. “We want to give you what you need, and in this case, we don’t think you have to have your phone with you at all times. [It’s] something you can take a break from and still be okay.”