Wolverines View, presented by Dream Spa Medical: – Phones At School? A Take on Westwood High School’s New Phone Policy

Click Click Click was all you used to hear in the Westwood High School’s classrooms and hallways.
 
Now, things have changed. Westwood High school has updated their Internet-Enabled Devices (Phone) Policy requiring students to turn off their phones, take out their earbuds and place them in a designated area. The goal of this policy change is to limit distractions and practice healthy habits. For the incoming freshman, this isn’t much of a change from middle school; however, for the returning high school students, this is a large adjustment. Either way, the new guidelines are in full swing and will continue for at least the rest of the 2024-2025 school year, igniting mixed feelings from students and staff. As a returning high school student adjusting to the change, my peers and I have developed varied opinions about the new policy. Opinions range from annoyance to gratitude because the new phone policy has some positive and negative effects.
 
As a teenager, I can admit phone addiction is quite common among my peers. So much so that complaining about the policy is a norm. However, I have come to realize the administration at Westwood High School has a very legitimate reason for the idea. Even though technology is a significant part of today’s learning environment, too much can be an immense distraction, especially when it comes to learning.
 
When gaining new information, focus is mandatory to contain the knowledge: if distracted, students could fall far behind on their classwork and the essential material of the class. Containing all of our phones in a designated area ensures they will be kept safe and easily accessible if there is an emergency. One perk of this policy is the phones are not stored in one place throughout the whole school day. We can retrieve our phones back at the end of the period, and then place them in the designated area in our new class. This ensures the students’ phones are always in eyesight, if there was ever an emergency.
 

 
In addition, we can have our phones out in the cafeteria, lobby areas, outdoor spaces and in the halls during passing periods. These privileges give students a sense of security over their devices, however it also gives students the privilege of having their devices throughout the day, which can be taken away easily. Even though the new policy is a major change, WHS is making sure students’ opinions are heard. The administration has been open to students kindly making suggestions and they have also formed a committee for feedback on the policy.
 
However, there are some negative effects associated with the new policy; specifically, students’ liability and responsibility when it comes to taking their own device, the spreading of germs, forgetfulness and the abuse of privileges. By mistake or not, occasionally students will end up with the wrong device, which could cause tremendous stress or miscommunication between the students. Students may also forget to take their phone from a classroom, accidentally leaving their devices in the designated pockets. This could lead to the loss of essential communication between parents and children, or other critical contact via phones. Additionally, all phones carry masses of germs. As students rotate from block to block, new phones enter and leave the designated areas. With this constant cycle, germs have a high probability of being spread between students through our phones.
 
As students adapt to the policy, hopefully it leads to the positive intended outcome. For now, varied opinions have risen among the WHS student community, however, it is gradually becoming a norm as we advance further into the school year.