Nov. 6, 2018

Almost every student at Central Kitsap High, and in the district, has a phone. As a result, many use it in their school and in their classrooms which either disrupts class or bothers others in class. While technology has been developing, some teachers have been adapting to the changes but others feel that phones, in particular, are an issue. Teachers feel that phones are an issue due to the fact that students are always on it and always distract themselves and others around them. At the start of this year, one school in Bainbridge decided to change how they deal with phones.

Bainbridge Island high school made a new rule that students had to put their phones in a box, or cubby, at the start of class and they won’t get them back or be able to use them until the end of class. According to the Kitsap Sun, students at the school either like the new change or think it’s unnecessary. In their article, they stated that a few schools have a similar policy to Bainbridge. While CK wasn’t listed, most of the schools policy differs from teacher to teacher.

Most teachers have heard about Bainbridge’s new phone rule and teachers either agree or disagree with what Bainbridge has implemented. Debbi Duane agrees with what Bainbridge has done and says “I agree. Their [students] job at school is to learn. Communication skills are hard to learn when most of your communication is simplified,” she also adds, “because of youtube, students are not learning to develop their own thoughts. My job is to teach you analytically and the phone hinders that process.”

Although phones are usually seen as an issue in class, they sometimes aren’t an issue. Josh Peretti, who used to have a phone policy in his class, says “[They’re] useful for pictures or with kahoot or most other things, but a lot can be done with the chromebook.” Most students feel that phones aren’t an issue but they also feel that they are when other students are playing games on their phone, their phone disrupts class, and more.  

As the school years progress, some teachers begin to take up the “No Phone Zone” policy in their classrooms. Although some students might not like the policy, some teachers do. Duane, who has a “No Phone Zone” policy, states that “You should be in the task 100%,” and similar to her previous response, she adds “we [teachers] are having to teach active listening,” because phones have made it difficult to do.