A student walks through the halls mindlessly staring down at their phone, unaware of what is going on around them. They run straight into another person because they are too focused on their screens. This is probably because their phone keeps getting taken away during class.
By now, most people know that MCHS established a new phone policy that requires students to keep their phones tucked away in the phone pockets on the wall of each classroom. When the bell rings students may grab their phones as they file out of the classroom and during the five minute passing period students rush to text, respond and watch as much as they can until they have to be in their next class.
For some students during passing periods, phones are consuming their attention so much to the point it is affecting others. “People just don’t pay attention anymore,” said student Kyleigh Witt. “I was walking to fourth period and some kid walked right into me because he was just staring at his phone.”
Since the implementation of “phone jails” in classrooms, it has led students to worry about their phones instead of focusing during class. Many students aren’t seeing the benefits of having their phones in these pockets.
“I mean I was never on my phone before, so I feel like we’re paying for other people’s consequences when it wasn’t our fault,” Witt says. “Overall I think that the phone pockets are detrimental because no one puts their phone in there anymore and nobody cares. So, I think they don’t do anything good for us.”
Many of the teachers and MCHS staff would disagree and say that the phone pockets make class better and that it causes kids to pay more attention.
Rick Rewaiko, the student resource officer at MCHS, thinks that the phone pockets have been a good addition to classrooms this year.
“I’ve noticed that the phone pockets are working,” Rewaiko says, “and I’m glad we started using them because students now have nothing else to do except their work.”
But are students really focused on their work or are they rushing everything so they can run up to the wall to get their phones back?
“When there’s a couple minutes of class left,” student Aly Akey says, “people start packing up earlier so they can get their phones sooner and then everyone’s crowding around the pockets.”
With these phone pockets, teachers could be losing class time from students due to their attachment to their phones and their desire to catch up on what they’ve missed.
As students walk through the halls, glad to temporarily have their phones back, they may be forgetting to look up and watch where they’re going. Whether the phone pockets are the culprit or if this has always been an issue, it’s important to pay attention to our surroundings to reduce any possible conflicts.