OPINION BY EMILY THOMPSON
In the past, administrators and teachers have tried to limit phone usage in the classroom. However, this school year is the first year cell phones have been officially banned in all classrooms at all times.
According to Mr. Berlin, associate principal at Wadsworth High School, “Since we moved to One to One and every student has access to the internet, phones are no longer academically necessary.”
Originally cell phones and other electronics were allowed in the classroom for academic purposes only. This quickly got out of hand and “Red Zones” were introduced in an effort to limit the use of social media and other non-academic apps during class time.
Personally, I believe the red zones were counterproductive because the teachers had no real way of enforcing the rules. Some teachers chose not to enforce them and because of the inconsistency the phones became an even bigger problem.
It seems fairly simple, however, the rules change from classroom to classroom making it hard for some students to follow the rules all the time. Because of this, Berlin said they decided to make the halls as well as every classroom a red zone so there could be no more confusion about when phones can and cannot be used. These new rules were put in place for the same reason phones are not allowed in the classroom.
“No phones in study hall eliminates the distraction and no phones in the hall forces students to pay attention to where they are going,” said Berlin.
These new rules have been met with a lot of backlash from students. Many students believe the rules will not have any effect on the amount of phone use in the classroom.
“Phones will always be a distraction in the classroom, especially since the rules vary from class to class,” said Ellie Wertz, 12.
Although there have been many changes I believe students need to give the rules a chance.
“The purpose of the rules is to solely improve grades, not to tell students what to do,” said Berlin.
A lot of students think the rules are just there to keep us off our phones because they want to, but I think if students looked at it from the perspective of a teacher or administrator they will see that they are trying to help us get the best possible education we can with the least amount of distractions.
