The impact one small policy can have on our school...
By:Abby Lichtenfels
The hallways and classrooms look different this year at Mishawaka High School thanks to a new law enacted by the Indiana State government. Beginning in August, students are no longer allowed to have phones, earbuds, or headphones in the classrooms or hallways. Cell phones are only allowed out during the passing period and lunch time, and headphones or earbuds are only allowed during lunch. School safety is cited as the reason for the new rules, but the move could have other benefits.
Ryan Sergeant, an art teacher and member of the phone board committee at Mishawaka High School (MHS) said, “We lost some neat things that we were doing, in exchange for getting rid of distractions keeping us from doing the things we wanna do in class.” Sergeant described how the phones were helpful for submitting pictures of assignments, and it made some things easier, however he still has noticed more pros than cons with this new policy. “The biggest pro, in my opinion, is in the real world, if you’re on a job, you’re going to get in trouble if you’re on your phone surfing the internet.”
The Alltold surveyed the student body in October, and found that of the 161 responses, 30% of students feel that their mental health is better with the new phone policy. This difference can have a more positive effect on people than what some may realize. Courtney Hahn, science teacher at MHS noted, “There has been so much more interaction between students . . . I think one thing that I don’t think teacher’s realized, was how quiet classrooms were due to kids being on their phone rather than talking to those around them. I think it’s hugely beneficial to the students though. So many kids spend so much time on their own and don’t have that social interaction . . . this has forced kids to talk and emerge from their own little bubble a bit more which is only going to help them in the long run.”
Despite this, some students still feel as though there are downsides to this new policy; especially when it comes to headphone and earbuds. Nicholle Nothstine, a junior at MHS said, “I really focus well with music, so with the new phone rule and the headphone rules it’s really difficult.” Nothstine talked about how, for herself and other students, it’s been difficult this year not being able to listen to music when it would be helpful, such as during independent work time. She explained that she’s seen a negative impact on the way that makes her and fellow students feel. “I’ve noticed a lot of irritability - especially in the younger students,” Nothstine said.
However, though this remains true for some students, based on a survey conducted by The Alltold, 62% of students are adapting easily to the new policy. Mrs. Mann, assistant principal at MHS said, “Just today I was talking to a teacher who told me that comparing the same assignment from last year and this year, that this year’s work was so much better, and she felt that it was because of more engagement in classrooms.”
Following the events of COVID-19, MHS is still working towards fully transitioning
back to normal. “The pandemic added to that isolation and kids came back even more reliant on their phone and conversations became even more decreased,” Hahn explained. With the new implementation of the phone and headphone policy, it’s helping our school take another step forward towards returning back to normal. “Right after COVID, we were hardly interacting with each other, it’s almost like the masks made people forget they could talk . . . and the phones just exacerbated that because you could just get on your phone and remove yourself from being here in the present, and now we’re forced to interact again, which I think is reteaching us how to get along with each other. Aren’t we here because we want to be in a community?”
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