The way we treat phones impacts student education. Photo courtesy of freshman Kaila Foley.
San Luis Obispo High School shares a similar cell phone policy as schools around the U.S, however the graduation rate across the country is only 85 percent. In other countries with different policies, the rate is much higher.
In Russia, 90 percent of high school students move on to graduate. In Croatia and Ukraine it’s up to 95 percent. What is it about these schools that has more students continuing their education?
The cell phone policy is different in all schools, and especially unique in different countries.
Young students who are in their teens are in their more defiant age period. This means that when rules are given, they are more likely to be broken. However, this is something that is known by the student body as well.
“The teachers that are more strict, the kids want to defy their rules about cell phones,” said junior Alina Ashby.
As kids continue to grow and develop, they also start to realize what structure they need and what works best for them to continue to learn. Students typically in their sophomore year or earlier start to set boundaries for themselves and start building the future they want for themselves.
“Having a good agreement between the students and the teachers is very helpful,” said junior Alina Ashby, “I feel like that gives them an opportunity to share their opinions.”
Just because there is an official cell phone policy, different teachers integrate their opinions onto it. Some teachers are more strict than what is necessary, others may be considered too lenient.
“It’s probably a good thing, but at the same time it’s not very well enforced,” said junior Atticus Fenton.
Rules are always implemented with a reason, but the only way for them to be useful is if they are actually followed.
“There’s not a lot of downsides to what’s happening currently. So it makes me wonder if it’s really helping,” said Fenton.
The cell phone policy and all school policies alway start out strong and deeply enforced. As the year goes on the rules slowly become more lenient as to what is allowed. If this is the case and yet students productivity stays the same, it begs the question; is the policy really helpful?
Students understand how rules and limits can help them grow, however students who are in high school will benefit more from building their own structure as they will need to use it for the rest of their lives.
Sources: Equsd, worldatlas, publicschoolreview, thinkimpact