Everyday you go to grab your phone to snap a shot of your life, but what happens when you can’t do that anymore? The Fenton Area Public Schools district recently adopted a new cell phone policy that does not allow students to use their phones during school hours except at lunch. Students are required to keep their phones in their bags or their lockers. This causes stress on students as they are not able to see notifications, texts and messages from family.
In the past, many Fenton students used their phones to record or photograph their memories and now that privilege has been taken away. Seniors won’t have photos to remember their classes, teachers and student life as they cannot take pictures. According to Minga.io, students should take photos throughout their school years to document the years, which helps them build relationships.
“It does make me sad to not be able to record my high school experience inside of school,” sophomore Janessa Bemman said. “I’d like to be able to take videos of cool experiments on chemistry. Especially for spirit week coming up in like two weeks; I want to take pictures of people that dress up. Sometimes I can’t take pictures before or after school hours because everyone has different schedules.”
Other issues with this new policy arise within art classes and extracurriculars. Some clubs now require photographic evidence to prove volunteer hours at an event. With the phone policy, if a student helps during SRT or school hours, they will not be able to properly record their evidence that they were there. Art classes often use references to draw and visualize things, and many resources used for this are blocked on the Fenton Area Public Schools-issued Chromebooks.
Students also are having issues with their sports and communication with family members. According to Bark.us, “In the event of an accident, illness or acts of violence, having a cell phone can provide a lifeline for immediate assistance and a way for parents to quickly connect with their teens to check in.” Bark agrees that phones can be useful for communication and in situations such as check-ins with children.
I also believe that for sports having a phone is a good thing: athletes use apps such as GroupMe and other forms of communication to inform them of sudden changes in the schedules and games/meets. This can cause a lot of trouble with rides home. Some students may need to go home by car, and sometimes issues happen with scheduling their ride home because they cannot communicate with their guardians.
Overall, FHS should allow students to have their phones for several reasons: from just being able to remember certain events, references and evidence for clubs, to communicating with with their guardians.
