When is it okay to use your phone?
Pasco High School’s phone policy is designed to help students do better in school. This policy is enforced during class hours to help students focus more in their classes, do better, and raise their grades. Students aren’t allowed to use their phones between the first bell of every class and the last bell to release them from their classes. However, during lunch and passing periods, it’s okay for students to use their phones.
What happens when your phone gets taken?
The phone policy is set during school days. Before and after school, kids are allowed to have their phones. If a student gets caught with their phone during class, a teacher or security guard takes it and puts it in an envelope. They put the students’ ID number on it and turn it into the office. Once it’s in the office, they put a mark on how many times you have gotten your phone taken away. If you get it taken more than 3 times, the office will hold your phone until a parent can come and get it. Kids usually get caught with their phones in classes and hallways, which sometimes doesn’t go well. Some students refuse and must be escorted to the Bulldog Way.
People’s thoughts on the policy
This phone policy has been in place since the beginning of this year. I asked Mr. Jose about the phone policy, how it changed his job, and how he thinks it helps. “It’s pretty easy. I just tell kids to put their phones away and give them a warning or two. I usually take their phones to the office, but most of the time, kids listen when I give them a warning.” Security guards usually give you a warning before they take your phone.
I asked Mrs. Gussenhoven. Her thoughts on the phone policy are that she likes it more because students talk and do better with their work. “Students talk to each other more and are less distracted.” It also helps teachers teach without many kids being distracted by their phones. Teachers take students’ phones, call security, and they bring \it to the office, or in some cases, the teacher keeps them till the end of class. Usually, a teacher warns a student before they take their phone.
I asked a student how the phone policies helped them: “The phone policy has helped me focus more and helped me not be on my phone. I used to be distracted by my phone, and that made me procrastinate in my classes.” The phone policy was set to help students improve their grades, and it also helps teachers teach and see that kids are focusing on their schoolwork.
The phone policy has made students do better in school, helping them focus more on understanding the materials. It has affected students and teachers in positive ways, even if students don’t like it. I feel like it helped their academics overall.
