On Monday, August 12, Hopkinton High Principal Evan Bishop sent his customary welcome letter to returning students and their parents. It outlined key dates, attendance and dismissal procedures, and rules for students parking on campus.
Notably, it also contained a paragraph outlining the school’s new cell phone policy.
Students may use their cell phones before school and after school as well as during lunch, study halls, and passing periods. However, upon entering classrooms, students will be expected to store their cell phones in a dedicated space in the classroom for the entirety of the period. This includes students who may leave the classroom to go to the restroom. If appropriate, teachers may allow the use of cell phones to supplement classroom instruction. Parents/guardians should refrain from disturbing students in class with calls or text messages. Parents/guardians are asked to direct emergency calls through the main office. There may be rare or extenuating circumstances that would require a student to have access to their phone during class for personal use. If there is such a need that might result in an emergency phone call, students should communicate that need to their teacher.
Cell phone bans are sweeping the nation. The Los Angeles Unified School District, which educates 429,000 students, voted on June 16 to ban cellphone and social media usage during the school day. Florida and Indiana were the first states to restrict phone usage in schools with many experts predicting that California and New York will follow.Â
“They’re not just a distraction. Kids are fully addicted now to phones,” Chancellor of New York City Public Schools David Banks said. “We’re going to ban the use of phones in schools.”
The effort to ban phones in schools is supported by the grassroots Phone-Free Schools Movement, which was founded by three moms-turned-advocates.Â
“School administrators report spending huge amounts of time dealing with fights, threats, and other drama instigated by social media,” co-founder Kim Whitman said, in an interview with Slate.Â
According to Principal Bishop, in previous years, cell phone use in the classroom was at the teacher’s discretion. This year, however, students will be expected to turn their phones off and put them away during class time.
“Each classroom has a phone pocket check-in for the students near the door,” said Bishop.
This is a step in the right direction!
The middle school has done this for years.
Great job, Evan!
This is good, but it was not enforced at the Middle School so did not have much effect.
I’m very familiar with the protocol and expectations at the MS. For you to say it did not much effect you should elaborate. Cell-phones were powered off, not out during class, and kids could not use them during the day or even at lunch. Did some kids sneak them? Sure. But to say it did not have much effect is untrue. If they were, students were asked to put them away. And then there were consequences for repeat offenders. I’ve heard many stories about kids using their phones throughout class at the HS so I’m glad to see its finally being addressed.
I’d ban them completely from all schools. They provide no benefit to children’s learning environments. As a child of the 80s/90s, we somehow survived before cell phones 🙂