Starting next school year in 2024, San Marcos High School will have a brand new phone policy for its students, a strict no-phone-in-classroom policy. This has left many SMHS students very upset and demanding that their voices be heard and the phone policy be dropped or changed. Meanwhile, some teachers on the other hand have been hopeful that a new phone policy was a necessary change for students to succeed in their classrooms but are not sure if this will bring the level of success they had been hoping for. In this article, I would like to explore the opinions of students and teachers and see if this new phone policy is necessary or a nuisance.
In an email from Superintendent Cardona on Friday, February 16, students and parents were informed that a new, stricter phone policy will be put in place for the 2024-2025 school year. In a rather vague email, we learned that students were on their phones and listening to music during class time instead of being present and participating in the teacher’s lectures, and classroom activities leaving them disengaged and distracted. This caused many teachers to reach out asking for support to address this widespread problem. The result was a new phone policy and we have yet to get any major details or updates. Even after going through the Board of Trustees’s recent meeting, there was only one mention of the new phone policy and it ended up being vague with little to no additional details.
This now begs the question; is the new policy too wild and ambitious to even be put in place by Superintendent Cardona and the Board of Trustees that is, or is this a very serious matter that both students and parents should be worried about? Let’s hear from an SMHS student on their observation and opinion on the new policy.
Liam Baker, a sophomore here at SMHS, voiced his concerns about the new phone policy on whether or not he thinks it will effectively improve the learning environment for both teachers and students. “I strongly believe that it will work for some, but not for most students. It will set them back and have the opposite effect of what the board, and school district is trying to do.” I too strongly believe this and agree with Baker that it will have the opposite effect of what the Board of Trustees and Superintendent Cardona are trying to achieve. I think students may retaliate and act out even worse causing an entirely new issue to deal with.
Baker also added that many students don’t use the phone as a distraction but as a learning tool to help them understand difficult concepts they may not understand in the classroom. “I think most people use their phones for good reasons in school. It’s not always about taking advantage of having access to a phone, and they don’t just waste their time on phones.”
Liam is not the only student who feels this way about the new phone policy. Many students at the school and their parents are concerned and/or against the new phone policy altogether. One of the biggest issues parents and students seem to have with the new policy is how will the students be able to contact parents in case of emergencies or other important issues in which parents or guardians need to reach their students to inform them about something.
However, there is an answer to this issue from the school administration. The school administration claims that in cases of emergency, it is better for students to not reach out to their parents and vice versa. This is because when parents or students reach out to each other panic and anxiety can kick in and make things harder for students, parents, school administration, and in the worst of scenarios, law enforcement. It would be easier for students to reach out and get help from the school administration during school hours and vice versa with parents.
Students are not the only ones in the classroom with strong feelings about phones and the new phone policy. Teachers are also concerned about the new phone policy and whether it will help them with the students’ phone problems and engagement, or will it make the problem worse and disengage students more than they already are.
Mr Stone is a renowned English teacher at SMHS and is loved by many for his goofy and laid-back teaching style. Stone was asked what his opinion on phones during school was to which he responded, “Phones are a part of the learning environment but many students lack the self-discipline and etiquette to know when and how to use them responsibly all the time”. Just like with Liam’s observation, I agree with Mr. Stone that many students lack the self-discipline and self-control to stay off their phones during class time and focus on learning. “But we all know many students are addicted to their phones, so it makes sense to clearly define how phones should be part of the school day so students can still be successful as learners.”
Mr Stone also expressed how he felt about the new phone policy and whether or not it would be effective when it is implemented next year. “I could see how the new phone policy will have its issues because of the multiple ways phones can still be used to complete assignments. It will be up to the specific details of what to do if a student is using their phone and how to hold them accountable while still recognizing the phone provides ways for students to complete their assignments.” Just like with other teachers and students one of the major concerns yet to be addressed, and with lack of information, is how will students be able to use their phone while being held accountable.
Mr. Stone also brings up an excellent point about how phones can and are used to complete and turn in assignments when students are not left with a computer or other ways to complete an assignment. Many students have claimed that their school-issued computer has had multiple issues that affect their daily school work and productivity. The school and its administration have come out and said that they are working very hard to fix these issues and problems for students. Still, unfortunately, many students have computer problems. The school sometimes lacks the resources to fix all these issues, which makes for an interesting conversation on how the school plans to take action to make sure all students have a way to turn in their assignments when they don’t have a phone.
After hearing from both students and teachers it is clear that the phone policy is a step in the right direction and even a way to fix many problems between students and classroom efficiency. Its lack of details and ambitiousness is causing a lot of controversies that will hopefully be settled by the start of next school year and give us more insight and details into how this new policy is going to work. So for now I think it is safe to say that this phone policy, even though it is extreme, is a necessary move from the Board that will cause major headaches and become a nuisance if there isn’t a specific and structured system in place to make this phone policy successful.
