<body><div>The Montoursville Area School Board of Education made the executive decision that a new phone policy will be implemented in its middle and high schools. Yondr phone pouches have been selected to conceal students’ phones during the school day. Students will be able to keep their phones with them during the school day, but they will be required at the start of every day to place them in their assigned Yondr pouch, which has a locking mechanism, making them inaccessible. As students leave the building at the end of their school day, they will use a magnetized disc to unlock their pouch. This decision has brought great animosity to several discussions inside and outside of the schools.“This decision came down to a board discussion at a board meeting,” said District Superintendent Mr. Daniel Taromina. “It was not on my radar. I knew there were problems with it but it was not on my radar, especially that night.” Several students, teachers, and administrators can all see both sides of this situation, but the main concern that has been discussed many times is how the general population of students in the high school is going to respond to this policy when enforced.Taormina commented on what one of the major challenges is going to be with this policy. “The biggest thing is the reaction from the student body and what that is going to look like. The expectation is from the start of the day to the end of the day we are a no cell phone zone. We are still ironing out quite a bit and the biggest thing is going to be the student reactions. I don’t think the first couple of weeks are going to be real pretty, but I’m hoping our students help us out and cooperate.”The first initial, public announcement of this policy was made in mid-August, and this sent a shock of different emotions to students. “My initial thoughts were if there was an emergency how would I be able to get notified if my phone’s locked up?” said senior Gavin Hawley. The question about emergencies has been a major concern amongst the students, especially with the recent events that have occurred. Senior Hannah Means said, “I was not very happy when I initially heard about the new phone policy. I thought it was very unrealistic that the district would think that all students would be able to lock their phones for an entire day without expecting any protest.”Phone addictions have become a normal part of today’s society. Teenagers and adults do not go anywhere without their phones attached next to their side.With this in mind, the administration is very aware that this change will not be an easy adjustment, and there will be some students who will struggle greatly with this change, and teachers are going to have to be a support for them throughout this new beginning.“It’s going to be bumpy because we are changing a cultural norm where we are removing cell phones and it is going to be tough for adults and kids, I am realistic but I am also hopeful,” said MAHS Principal Mr. Matthew Johnson.Teachers have recommended that students try and reduce their technology use before the date when these pouches are enforced. They also said to give it time and patience and eventually it will become a habit, and students will not even recognize they do not have it anymore.“I would tell students to find other strategies to use for things they would normally use a phone for now rather than wait until you have your phone back,” said biology teacher Ms. Megan Daily. “For example, if you use your phone calendar as your planner, begin using a planner.” Spanish teacher Sra. Andrea Tira also added her thoughts on the issue. “I have to preface my advice with this: If we’re honest about cell phone use in our building, we have to admit that at times, they are detracting from our learning, socializing, and being productive,” Tira said. “We should also be honest about the fact that there are students who complain and/or refuse to put their phones away when a teacher asks them to. Those moments would waste learning time and sadly, they also hurt teacher/student relationships. We need to recognize that moving to days without our phones is going to be hard and that it is going to take some getting used to for all of us. My advice is to be open-minded, adhere to the policy, and then let’s revisit how we feel once we are ‘in it.'”Taormina said that teachers have to remain consistent with this policy, but there will be administrative support provided to all teachers. “Consistency is key. Teachers are taught to be fair, firm, and consistent, and consistency is huge,” Mr. Cody Pavlick said when asked what his advice would be to other teachers. “After all, although they may not agree to it, students enjoy consistency because they know what to expect, instead of confusion and a guessing game.”Johnson does not believe that this phone policy will make a great impact on the school as a whole, but however, he did say that “The board is moving forward with it. We are going to do our best to try and do it in a way that is with fidelity and integrity and makes sure that we are doing it in the right way.”After talking with several teachers and administration, one of the major concerns with cell phones in our schools currently is the use of social media in the wrong ways.“Social media lets things travel fast and it is a really great, rapid way to spread misinformation and things that you don’t want to necessarily spread,” said Johnson. “So one of the pros is it will curve things like this because there is no access to phones.” According to the National Institute of Health’s article “Social Media Use and Depression in Adolescents: A Scoping Review,” social media increases cyberbullying which then results in depression and anxiety from students. Students with access to their phones during the daytime could take unwanted pictures of teachers and post them online, causing harm to teachers’ mental health.“Hopefully, we can teach students how to responsibly use cell phones,” said Vice Principal Mrs. Susan Wise. “But if it helps anything it will benefit some of our mental health within the district. We are looking at improving learning and getting the focus back into the classroom.”Sophomore Reagan Gonzalez shared her thoughts on the policy.“I do think this policy could reduce distractions in the classroom,” Gonzalez said. “I think so because the phone will be somewhere where the student can’t take it out. If I could make a change to this policy I would have the students choose to use the pouches but would still allow phones during lunch, passing periods, and study halls.”Pavlick believes that this policy will leave room for more critical thinking and problem-solving skills to develop. He can, however, see how some students will react when this policy is enforced. “Students are very creative and industrious and when they are focused on something they will find ways of achieving it. These pouches will provide a definitive line that if technology is seen outside of it, then there will be a very cut-and-dry consequence,” said Pavlick.“If I could change this policy for the better, I would more strongly enforce the phone policies that are already in place,” said Senior Paige Boyle. “The phone pouches that hang on the back of classrooms that the administration has purchased in the last couple of years would be a perfect solution to the ‘phone issues’ if they were enforced. This would save our school a lot of money and future consequences.” Every year the commonwealth of Pennsylvania allows schools to request funding for specific items with the use of grants. This year, Taormina said the school district used some of the grant money from the Safety and Security Grants from the Pennsylvania Crimes Comissional Delinquency (PCCD), which the district gets annually, on the Yondr pouches.“This year they allowed us to use some of the money for the pouches,” Taormina said. “We did our usual application for the funds [and] in it we wrote in the pouches, and we are waiting to still hear on approval, but the pouches are here regardless of the grant or not. Legislators wrote into the grant that schools could use some of the money for these pouches, and they cited mental health issues and distractions in education as the reason why they are going to allow it.”Sophomore Ryan Hunsberger talked about the advantages and disadvantages of the pouches. “The pros would be that there would be no cell phone disturbances but the cons would be that people couldn’t call important contacts on their phones,” said Hunsberger. “I think it will reduce distractions because people can’t be on their phones to play games or go on social media,” Gonzalez said that some pros could be increased focus on students’ work, and encouraged socializing instead of being on a cell phone.Junior Kenna Bennett said that a pro would be that they could help get students more academically focused, and junior Kayleigh Sheleman said a pro would be that they would remove any distractions during classes.“The cons outweigh the pros of this policy” said Sophomore Elias Rodriguez. “If there was an emergency within the school, students would not be able to contact parents or loved ones. Another con of this would be how difficult it would be for everyone to adjust to.”“Some pros are that students will hopefully be more engaged in class and won’t be as distracted,” said senior Shaw Simpson. “Some cons are that they might not be able to be used at lunches where we have a break in our day and it cuts off communication with parents if you need to figure out a ride home or a more important issue.”“There are issues with some kids using their phones,” said sophomore Elyse Boyle. “This policy would fix that problem, however, I also think there are much easier and cheaper ways to accomplish the same goal. This will cause an uproar in the student body that will most likely lead to even more complications during instruction,” The pouches have arrived at the high school, and according to Taromina, they will be enforced hopefully after Christmas break. The administration is aware that there is going to be pushback, and when asked about this pushback Taormina had a response. “We are going to push back, too,” he said. “We are under the board of directors to get this done, so it is happening and it is not going to go away.”Featured Image (at top): Students will soon be required to place and lock in their cell phones in a Yondr pouch like the one pictured. The district anticipates requiring students use the pouches sometime after Christmas break. Photo from CNC News.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

District locks in on its new phone policy

The Montoursville Area School Board of Education made the executive decision that a new phone policy will be implemented in its middle and high schools. Yondr phone pouches have been selected to conceal students’ phones during the school day. Students will be able to keep their phones with them during the school day, but they will be required at the start of every day to place them in their assigned Yondr pouch, which has a locking mechanism, making them inaccessible. As students leave the building at the end of their school day, they will use a magnetized disc to unlock their pouch.