Dear Veritas Board and Administration,

As the Veritas Society, it is with a lot of prayer and extreme concern that this petition is being written in response to the new cell phone policy at Veritas.

We understand the concerns that have brought upon the change for a new cell phone policy at Veritas. We understand that cell phone usage can get out of control when clear policies are not put into place and that this can affect the social, spiritual and educational well-being of a child. However, there are some real concerns when it comes to the safety, communication and behavioral issues of this new policy. There is a safe, convenient and effective way of adopting a policy like this that does not put a burden, inconvenience and worry upon the parents, students, Veritas staff and teachers.

There is the issue of safety. In the case of an unfortunate incident such as a classroom lockdown, we as parents would hate the thought of not being able to communicate with our children. With this unfortunate day and age of violence in our community we feel it is vital to have communication with our children. Cell phones are lifelines and potential tools in times of crisis. Removing this communication is a violation of our parental rights.

As with the issue of communication, it is vital and quite often that parents communicate with their child(ren) throughout the school day. It is an inconvenience to our office staff, teachers and especially parents and students to have to call the school every time they need to communicate with their child(ren). This puts on an added burden and takes time away from everyone.

There is also the issue of unfairness to the students. We understand that there is concern with exposure of harmful information to students; however, we believe that it is actually the spiritual obligation of the parents to control their children’s cell phones. For those students that have shown proper cell phone usage put in place by each teacher, they are now being punished for something they have not done. This can lead a child into thinking that no matter if they follow the rules they will be punished for someone else’s mistakes. This is not the emotional or spiritual influence we want to establish in our children. We understand that policies must be put in place, but this policy across the board is undeserving for those whom follow the rules.

The consequences of this new policy are also unfair and put a financial burden upon the parents and/or students. Are we now going to say that if any rule is broken the parents will be charged a fee? The notion that parents will only care about their child’s behavior if it affects their pocketbook is poor logic. The consequences of this policy will spark resentment between the parents, the school and the students. Research actually shows that building relationships with students/children is more effective at improving behavior.

As the Veritas Society we believe there is a better way of controlling cell phone usage in the school that is both safe and convenient. Each teacher should have the ability to control their own classroom to the extent needed. There are currently teachers at Veritas that have adopted a policy of collecting phones before the start of their class, then returning them afterwards. This has proven to be an effective way to handle the situation.

We as the Veritas Society believe it is crucial that Veritas Christian School reconsider this policy. There must be a balanced approach that does not compromise student safety and communication.

Sincerely,

Veritas Society