With the start of the new school year came the implementation of the new device policy, in which all students are prohibited from accessing personal phones during school hours. At its core, the pouch system—which locks students’ phones during the school day to reduce distraction—is seemingly positive. While we do understand the intention behind the system, we believe that it is not the best solution for a few reasons. Especially in high school, administrators should trust students to manage their own phone use instead of enforcing widespread restrictions. If students choose to be on their devices during class time, they will reap the consequences of it and will learn to change their behavior in the future. Locking away our cell phones is likely counteractive to adopting healthy cell phone use habits, which every single student will need upon graduating high school and going on to college or work.
That said, we don’t feel that the pouches have made a huge difference in our daily lives. Once the initial adjustment phase passed, it felt rather normal, but still not necessary. We believe that the phone pocket system implemented last year was extremely beneficial in reducing distractions for students and was an excellent balance between completely restricting access to our phones versus just limiting access. Ultimately, while we are not as enraged by the pouches as some other students might be, we do not believe that they are an ideal or long-term solution for cell phone use and distraction. We believe that schools should place emphasis on fostering responsible device use and balance, particularly in a high school setting, rather than completely cutting off access to our cell phones during the school day.
In accordance with the New York State law prohibiting all personal devices in schools, Hastings High School has also decided to restrict the use of students’ computers and implement the use of school-issued Chromebooks instead. Due to this transition, students were permitted to bring their own computers to school for the first few days of the academic year and were advised to visit the tech office to retrieve a Chromebook as soon as possible. Once all students were provided with a Chromebook, teachers made it clear that personal devices were prohibited from use in their classrooms, as there are loaners available in the tech office. While this seems to be a step towards the distraction-free environment the high school strives for, it has also posed several challenges within the classroom.
Students often gravitate towards the use of their personal devices because they have applications and software that are tailored to their workflow and style of learning. This difficulty has been evident within the Science Research course offered at the high school. Over the summer, several students were given access to virtual computer desktops or downloaded specific programs by mentors that are not supported on Chromebooks. Moreover, such applications are often accessed through mobile devices for security reasons. With the pouch system, this made it nearly impossible for research students with distinct software to effectively and efficiently work on their projects during the school day. Although this was an initial concern held by numerous students, potential solutions have been developed—science research students may bring their personal device to be stored in their designated classroom and utilized solely during class hours. For the students who need access to their phones for certain applications, teachers have allowed students to unlock their pouches at the front of the school, access the software, and promptly relock their pouch.
In regard to all Hastings High School students, the school-issued Chromebooks have also created unexpected challenges with restrictive filters. Access to sites such as YouTube and other video platforms is often blocked. While this limitation is intended to minimize distractions, it has also made materials and assignments uploaded by teachers inaccessible to students, as they cannot view them directly on their Chromebooks. In fact, many teachers have been unaware of this change, assigning videos for sub-work when they are not in class or creating blocked video quizzes that interfere with curated lesson plans. This filtration system has raised questions about whether or not limiting access to videos interferes with learning. However, reaching the end of September, students have worked through the adjustment period and have shown increased comfort with the new Chromebook policy. As the school year progresses, we anticipate that the school will continue to combat conflicts that arise. While this change may not be ideal, the efforts already made by the administration demonstrate the school’s dedication to ensuring that students still have access to the necessary materials to succeed in their academics.
