The start of the new school year at CHS came with a new policy regarding the use of cell phones. Assistant Principal, Mr. Chase, recently sat down with the ENTRY to provide knowledge of the policy and the rationale for it.

New Cell Phone Policy Takes Effect at CHS
BY AMANDA MCKECHNIE
The start of the new school year at CHS came with a new policy regarding the use of cell phones. Assistant Principal, Mr. Chase, recently sat down with the ENTRY to provide knowledge of the policy and the rationale for it.
“The Cellphone Policy states students aren’t allowed to use their phones at all in class and AC Lab and if they are caught using it the phone will be sent to the office. Only in passing time, Advisory (if there is no planned activity), and lunch are the phones are permitted. If the phone is visible it is considered in use no matter what. Anything that connects to the phone like air pods are not permitted and to listen to music it must be through the Chromebook. Students passing in the halls during class time, for example, to use the lav, aren’t allowed to have their phones because they are still considered being in-class time,” said Mr. Chace.
This policy was formulated by the School Improvement Team which is a group of teachers and administrators. Last year they sent out a survey to students and parents about phones and an overwhelming majority of students said their phones are a distraction. The team then chose to act on these statements.
The biggest reason for the Cellphone Policy is teachers were concerned that students weren’t paying attention in class because of their cellphones distracting us. Another reason was students were using cellphones during school to bully other students, set up fights, or set up situations that should not occur in a safe school environment.
Teachers have given positive feedback to administrators about the policy saying students are more engaged in class and have better grades now that there is no distraction.
“Only about six cellphones a day are being sent to the office which is 0.04% of students,” said Mr. Chace.
Last year no cellphones were sent down to the office but now teachers are being more strict and are giving no warnings.
From the cellphone policy, not many problems have occurred just the reluctance of students to give up their phones but there haven’t been any big issues.
Future plans for the Cellphone policy are that it most likely will not change. One idea that has been going around is that every class will have a bag to put cellphones in that will cut off the cell reception. Most likely this will not occur though due to expense.
The consequences for violating the Cellphone Policy are: the first time a student is caught using their phone the phone is sent to the office and the student can pick it up at the end of the day. The second time the phone is sent to the office again but the students get detention and the parents are notified. The third time and every time after that the phone has to be picked up by guardians or parents and the student gets double detention.
Overall, the Cellphone Policy has proven effective at CHS. Even many students admit that we are more focused on learning during class.
Recent Comments