Change the Shelby County high school cell phone policy
31 Comments
A
Anonymous
8 years ago
No cell phones should be allowed during school hours.
P
Pam Murphree
8 years ago
Featured
Taking away cell phones will not change anything. Kids will still find ways to bully others make kids who are not in their "group" feel bad about about themselves. Parents need to teach and enforce appropriate use of technology. How to treat others with respect and kindness needs to be learned at home also. I know there will always be cliques and groups. But learning to keep your opinions to yourself and show a little kindness would go a long way toward creating a less stressful and more accepting environment.
I
Izzy Crumpton
8 years ago
Featured
I urge those who don’t attend a Shelby County high school, like parents, to listen to the accounts of many students and teachers that do. The BYOD policy does not endorse students sitting on Instagram or Snapchat all day. A lot of teachers at the beginning of the school year will establish that if they see a student using a phone during class, they will take it up. The BYOD policy is not in place so that students will use their cell phones all day every day. This policy is used to enrich the classroom experience- we use devices to look up facts in the middle of a discussion, or to email a teacher quickly if we need something. Technology is changing the world quickly and it need not be feared, because the way students learn is now faster and more accessible.
S
Susan Schwartz
8 years ago
As an OMHS teacher, I’d like to address this subject from my personal experience. I am not speaking for anyone but myself. I need my students to have a cell phone. We utilize it in AP Government daily to look up facts and track polls and trends. My students learn with their cell phones. Unfortunetly, we do not have one on one chrome books for our school system. Therefore, cell phones are essential in many classes if our targets and standards are to be met daily and on pace. We had the middle School policy and it didn’t work. We spent our time policing, not teaching. Technology is here and we must use it responsibly. We will not go backward with it. My cell phone policy is dock it face down on your desk and only use it only if I ask you. I have next-to-no problems and sadly, when I do see a student texting while I teach, they often tell me they are answering their mom’s text. I certainly don’t mean this text to be contentious. I only want to give you my professional opinion. I would ask that we focus on getting student chrimebooks instead.
A
Anne Otts
8 years ago
Featured
I don’t support this idea. Most teachers have a very realistic approach to cell phones during class. Ask your kids. If you don’t want your children to use them. Deal with that individually and at home. There aren’t many middle school policies that make any sense. I sure don’t want to see OMHS continue those policies.
M
Maddie O’Neal
8 years ago
I can’t even begin to explain how much of a privilege it is to have my phone out at school. I’m a CHS student, and I find that my phone helps me out so much with my classes! We don’t have computers in every classroom... so our phones are a great tool to look something up on the Internet or finish an assignment on Google Classroom. It’s also great because I can contact my teachers via e-mail whenever I need to. Some of my teachers are lenient on cell phones, and some require to put ours up during class. Briarwood Christian School doesn’t allow their students to have their cell phones out because they have iPads/other devices to use! CHS unfortunately doesn’t have the luxury of that, so our cell phones make up for it. I know when the appropriate times are to have my cell phone out... I know when I need to put it down and focus on my work. I’m a 4.0 GPA student and I use my cell phone all the time in school.... I know plenty of other exceptional students who use their phones in class as well. That’s just some of my input, coming from a student :)
A
Allison jones
8 years ago
What about computers in school technology changes back to books and paper I get tired of being on a computer for work then I go home have to look at grades and try to locate HW on google docs on the middles school websites I have to let them work on computer to turn on assignments in middle school just saying wish we never had a computer or a cell
D
Dawn Gilpin
8 years ago
I agree!!!! Only before and after school!
M
Mardi Hasson
8 years ago
In total and complete support of this policy!!!!
Please make it happen.
A
Anonymous
8 years ago
Good change
B
Brandi catanese
8 years ago
Yes!!! Yes!!! Yes!!!!
A
Angie Dunham
8 years ago
This needs to be addressed and enforced ASAP! It's not worth losing more lives than we already have.
M
Mandy Walker
8 years ago
Change!!
A
Anonymous
8 years ago
They don't enforce the policies at the middle school in Helena.
A
Anonymous
8 years ago
They don't enforce the policies at the middle school in Helena.
K
Kristi Blackwell
8 years ago
I agree completely. Too easy a distraction during school hours.
G
Gen Elam
8 years ago
I agree 100% that restricting cell phone usage during school hours would benefit the students. Not only is it a huge distraction from their schoolwork but many students also use social media during the day to bully their classmates. Our rule at Chelsea High School is that a student will be punished if they are using social media or their phones to bully during school hours. But our principal has seen proof time and time again of social media bullying during school hours and still does not follow through with punishments. That sends the wrong message to our students and makes them feel as though they are even more invincible than they already think they are. And it makes the victim feel as though they don't even have the administration in their corner during difficult times. It also makes it harder on the parents to punish their child for bad grades or bad behavior by taking their cell phones because then the student claims they can't complete their schoolwork because so much is done online. (Not to mention, our cell phone bills suffer as well with all the data our kids use at school.) I also cannot imagine the difficulty our teachers face every day trying to teach students that have their heads down looking at their phones instead of paying attention. It's time to take away the phones and the distractions so our students can focus more on their academics instead of watching how many likes their most recent Instagram post is getting.
J
Jan Enstrom
8 years ago
Please ban cell phones during the school day!
B
Bethany Herrington
8 years ago
I fully support our high schools matching the middle schools policies regarding cell phone usage.
K
Kristi Rudd
8 years ago
Featured
Both of my daughter's grades dropped dramatically once they started high school. It was because of the distraction of their phones.
No cell phones should be allowed during school hours.
Taking away cell phones will not change anything. Kids will still find ways to bully others make kids who are not in their "group" feel bad about about themselves. Parents need to teach and enforce appropriate use of technology. How to treat others with respect and kindness needs to be learned at home also. I know there will always be cliques and groups. But learning to keep your opinions to yourself and show a little kindness would go a long way toward creating a less stressful and more accepting environment.
I urge those who don’t attend a Shelby County high school, like parents, to listen to the accounts of many students and teachers that do. The BYOD policy does not endorse students sitting on Instagram or Snapchat all day. A lot of teachers at the beginning of the school year will establish that if they see a student using a phone during class, they will take it up. The BYOD policy is not in place so that students will use their cell phones all day every day. This policy is used to enrich the classroom experience- we use devices to look up facts in the middle of a discussion, or to email a teacher quickly if we need something. Technology is changing the world quickly and it need not be feared, because the way students learn is now faster and more accessible.
As an OMHS teacher, I’d like to address this subject from my personal experience. I am not speaking for anyone but myself. I need my students to have a cell phone. We utilize it in AP Government daily to look up facts and track polls and trends. My students learn with their cell phones. Unfortunetly, we do not have one on one chrome books for our school system. Therefore, cell phones are essential in many classes if our targets and standards are to be met daily and on pace. We had the middle School policy and it didn’t work. We spent our time policing, not teaching. Technology is here and we must use it responsibly. We will not go backward with it. My cell phone policy is dock it face down on your desk and only use it only if I ask you. I have next-to-no problems and sadly, when I do see a student texting while I teach, they often tell me they are answering their mom’s text. I certainly don’t mean this text to be contentious. I only want to give you my professional opinion. I would ask that we focus on getting student chrimebooks instead.
I don’t support this idea. Most teachers have a very realistic approach to cell phones during class. Ask your kids. If you don’t want your children to use them. Deal with that individually and at home. There aren’t many middle school policies that make any sense. I sure don’t want to see OMHS continue those policies.
I can’t even begin to explain how much of a privilege it is to have my phone out at school. I’m a CHS student, and I find that my phone helps me out so much with my classes! We don’t have computers in every classroom... so our phones are a great tool to look something up on the Internet or finish an assignment on Google Classroom. It’s also great because I can contact my teachers via e-mail whenever I need to. Some of my teachers are lenient on cell phones, and some require to put ours up during class. Briarwood Christian School doesn’t allow their students to have their cell phones out because they have iPads/other devices to use! CHS unfortunately doesn’t have the luxury of that, so our cell phones make up for it. I know when the appropriate times are to have my cell phone out... I know when I need to put it down and focus on my work. I’m a 4.0 GPA student and I use my cell phone all the time in school.... I know plenty of other exceptional students who use their phones in class as well. That’s just some of my input, coming from a student :)
What about computers in school technology changes back to books and paper I get tired of being on a computer for work then I go home have to look at grades and try to locate HW on google docs on the middles school websites I have to let them work on computer to turn on assignments in middle school just saying wish we never had a computer or a cell
I agree!!!! Only before and after school!
In total and complete support of this policy!!!! Please make it happen.
Good change
Yes!!! Yes!!! Yes!!!!
This needs to be addressed and enforced ASAP! It's not worth losing more lives than we already have.
Change!!
They don't enforce the policies at the middle school in Helena.
They don't enforce the policies at the middle school in Helena.
I agree completely. Too easy a distraction during school hours.
I agree 100% that restricting cell phone usage during school hours would benefit the students. Not only is it a huge distraction from their schoolwork but many students also use social media during the day to bully their classmates. Our rule at Chelsea High School is that a student will be punished if they are using social media or their phones to bully during school hours. But our principal has seen proof time and time again of social media bullying during school hours and still does not follow through with punishments. That sends the wrong message to our students and makes them feel as though they are even more invincible than they already think they are. And it makes the victim feel as though they don't even have the administration in their corner during difficult times. It also makes it harder on the parents to punish their child for bad grades or bad behavior by taking their cell phones because then the student claims they can't complete their schoolwork because so much is done online. (Not to mention, our cell phone bills suffer as well with all the data our kids use at school.) I also cannot imagine the difficulty our teachers face every day trying to teach students that have their heads down looking at their phones instead of paying attention. It's time to take away the phones and the distractions so our students can focus more on their academics instead of watching how many likes their most recent Instagram post is getting.
Please ban cell phones during the school day!
I fully support our high schools matching the middle schools policies regarding cell phone usage.
Both of my daughter's grades dropped dramatically once they started high school. It was because of the distraction of their phones.