Student Q&A – Ella Kelly

1. When did you first learn about the new phone policy?

“I learned about it from my mom [at] the beginning of August.”

2. What was your initial reaction?

3. What did you think the implementation of the phone ban has aimed to do?

4. Did you have any expectations with it going into the school year?

“I thought that the phone policy would fail and that none of the students will follow the new rule.”

5. Before the announcement, did you have issues with phone usage in class?

“I had no issues with it; I never use my phone in classes, and I never really saw anyone in any of my classes using their phones while teachers were talking unless the teacher said they could use it for google classroom.”

6. Have you ever used phones in class before for something educational or for downtime?

“I have used phones in class for educational stuff, like connecting to google classrooms.”

7. With the start of the school year, did you notice any changes in students regarding phones and attention?

“No, I haven’t really noticed any differences in how classes have been.”

8. Have you had to adapt to the lack of phones in class? If so, how?

9. Do you feel as if the phone ban is a step in the right direction? Why?

“I think that the phone ban is helpful, but I don’t think that the administration needs to take it any further than they already have.”

10. Has the ban been pointed out in classroom discussions?

 “Not really. Most of my teachers do not mention the rule at all.”

11. What have you deduced from other students’ reactions?

“From what I’ve noticed, most students are very upset with the rule and most of them don’t follow this rule completely.”

12. Do you think there are any downsides to this ban?

“I think that it is potentially dangerous if students are unable to contact their parents in case there is an emergency.”

13. If you could change the policy, how would you?

“I would say that students could keep their phones in their backpacks so that they have it if there is an emergency, but they just can’t take them out while they are at school.”

14. Do you expect it to last, or has there been too much backlash?

“I think that the phone ban will last at least until the end of this school year, but I am not sure if they will continue with it next year. It will probably depend on how this year goes and whether the controversy over it dies down or not.”