Starting the new semester new rules were put in place. Arguably the most controversial among students is having to put your phone up during class. The main goal of this rule is to help students focus and achieve the best possible grade.
¨I would have to say that some of the pros include that you can focus. This rule affects me and my classmates by allowing us to grow that community that we need,” sophomore Ava Bolich said. “I like this rule. They’re great because I get to focus on my work.”
These rules not only benefit the students but also the teachers.
“The school is trying, they’re trying to show that they care about the kids, they’re trying to help the kids out of school. It’s very difficult to learn with a cell phone in your pocket,” social studies teacher Ronald Bussey said. “I wouldn’t have been able to learn when I was in high school with a cell phone in my pocket. I hope the students at least feel like their school cares.”
This new rule has many effects. Failure rates have gone down due to students putting their phones away and focusing on classes.
“Our school failure rates went down from cycle two to cycle three, it went down by about 2%. I could look at the data but about 2% from three or more core courses,” Principal Carmen Blakey said. “We keep track of how many students failed two or more core courses every cycle.”
Another noticed change is the mood around campus.
“We see happier faces, and we see interactions,” Blakey said. “When we’re talking to kids, they say good morning and we say good morning. So automatically the mood lifts a little bit and it was almost tangible like you could feel it change when they weren’t on it all day.”
