Plainfield East students coming back for a new year aren’t strangers to some changes being made while they were gone. Rules change, policies adjust, and regulations are made. However, students this year were confronted with a change not many expected: educators now enforced a school-wide crackdown on cell phones. No exceptions.
Reactions among the student body are varied and widespread, sparking a wave of discussion among students about the necessity of the policy in improving student attentiveness and engagement within the classrooms. Was this really necessary?
Hallway interviews with students largely show a negative perspective of the policy. Some students view it as a safety issue, some believe it’s too harsh, while others believe that it is largely ineffective against reducing distracted students in the classroom.
Polling data corroborates these interviews. In a recent survey conducted by East Side News, of which there were 378 respondents, over 58.5% were against the shift in policy enforcement. A further 25.1% were indifferent to these changes.
When asked to rank how effective these changes would be in improving student engagement and attentiveness on a 1 to 5 scale, over 74% of respondents were 3 or below. Faith in the policy is remarkably low, if you were to follow these numbers by themselves.
These statistics aren’t including the 232 written responses sent in afterward, a primarily-anonymous array of survey-takers giving their own nuances to the issue.
However, let’s include teachers in the conversation here. Teachers take up 12.7% of the respondents in the survey, not including other staff members at Plainfield East. Their perspectives, while obviously outnumbered by the students, are vital to take into account regarding the policy itself.
Michael Schmitt, a teacher at the school and famous co-host of our school’s Wellness Wednesday, says, “I LOVE the changes. Cell phone use, especially with teens, is linked to more depression, more anxiety, more attention issues, less sleep and 100 other bad things. I’ve already seen way more social interactions between kids in the first week which is a WIN.”
In a recent interview with Mr. Michael Adamson, his support was very vocal. “High school is all about building habits. If you’re in the habit of going on your phone, then what happens when you enter the workforce?” said Adamson.
It’s easy to paint the conflict as students vs. teachers, but that’s not entirely the case. 16.4% of the graph above is in support of the policy, which encompasses a mixture of both students and teachers. “The phones hurt more than they help.” said Junior Domenico Sardo, “I think it’s a great thing.”
Another student of Plainfield East, Brayden Mooney, said, “Ever since the cell phone policy was enacted, my grades have raised, my mind has grown, and I feel more connected to my learning experience.”
The students of Plainfield East are accustomed to change, that is for sure. But in the wake of the new 8-period day, more class options, and a state mandate for a cell phone ban on the horizon, the students of Plainfield East simply ask: what is next?
