After discussion with the Fremd Solutions committee, William Fremd High School is heading an initiative to increase enforcement of personal technology use, including phones and earbuds, during instruction. This issue was brought up through the concerns of both parents and staff, after surveys and firsthand evaluations in classroom environments to identify issues within the school.
This initiative, which was initially set up as a pilot program, started immediately after spring break last school year and was mainly limited to the English Learner, Family & Consumer Science, World Language, and Special Education departments. Department teachers were only required to execute the guidelines in one of their classes.
After a few months following the implementation, there are clearly mixed reviews among Fremd students. Sahana Srinivasan, a current Fremd senior, reveals her personal opinions on the effectiveness of the newly introduced policy.
“I feel like even if you take the phone away, kids are always gonna find another way to be distracted, like being on their iPad to play games or doing other homework from a different class or something,” Srinivasan said. “But taking the phone away isn’t gonna help them become more focused in that class.”
The mandated personal technology policy guidelines involve a green and red sign, where the teacher will alternate between the two accordingly. When the red sign is up, no personal technology is allowed to be out, while when the green sign is up, the time is permissible for using phones and earbuds. In addition to the sign, teachers will give verbal instructions when flipping signs so that students know this change.
Assistant Principal Michael Smith explains the reasoning behind this decision to allow the teachers to switch between these two signs manually.
“We wanted teachers to have the autonomy to go back and forth versus just mandating teachers the entire time to say, ‘You’re only red,'” Smith said. “So, in working with staff, you know, they liked the idea of going back and forth.”
Smith emphasizes that it is up to the teachers to determine how strict the policy is within each of their unique classroom environments. Different teachers have varying and unique preferences for when they want such regulation to be imposed on their students regarding their distraction due to personal technology.
When a student does not cooperate with these teacher-mandated guidelines the first time, teachers will reach out to the intervention office, who will then meet with students to discuss consequences, which include lunch detentions and a phone call home.
The second time a student ignores these guidelines, their phone will be confiscated for the rest of the school day, as well as a parent conference. The third offense would be the confiscation of personal technology for five consecutive days, where the student would have to turn in their phone at the beginning of the day and then pick it up at the end of the school day.
Science teacher and solutions committee member Matt Zimolzak highlights the idea that the policy will apply differently depending on the class and teacher.
“Personally, I teach classes where I don’t ever have that issue,” Zimolzak said. “So there are classes where they are having all kinds of problems during the day, and then there are classes where they don’t have any issues whatsoever. But, you know, it’s a problem for those classes that do have those issues, for sure.”
Smith concludes with the idea that this initiative was fueled by the ultimate motive to support students on their academic journey to optimize their classroom learning.
“You have every right to have your personal technology in this building, as long as it’s not preventing you from learning or distracting others,” Smith said. “So outside of the classroom, in the hallways, cafeteria, commons, do your thing, enjoy your personal technology. And when it’s time to learn, when you’re in class, and especially when your teacher wants you to be fully engaged, be fully engaged.”
