Reaction to the petition on the cell phone ban in Richmond County Schools

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – A petition calling for cell phones not to be confiscated in Richmond County schools has gotten nearly 5,600 signatures.

16-year-old Hayden Griffin-Dunbar started a petition on Change.org because of the school board’s new cell phone policy. He was surprised when it started to become popular online.

“First it was test scores, then it was like ‘hey we need students to focus in class, but like I understand that, but they’re going too far with it,” said Hayden Griffin-Dunbar, the student behind the petition. “I didn’t expect it to get as much traction as it did, but it did for some reason. Probably because, like, I shared it with like two people; I didn’t expect it to get this big.”

Fellow students started signing the petition because they use their phones as a resource in class and don’t understand why they can’t use them during lunch or breaks.

“The reason I signed the petition was because I feel like I use my phone for educational purposes and not only just for getting on social media, talking, and all the other stuff,” said Nikiya Donahoo, a student.

Parents we spoke with had a middle-of-the-ground reaction to the policy. They understand that the kids should focus in class.

“I’m a little neutral. I do think the kids should be able to have their cellular devices because due to other situations that happen with school also, but I do feel like the students should have their phones put up at the same time,” said Dejanaria Mitchell, a parent.

While some were neutral, they do not understand the harshness of the rules confiscating the device.

“I understand the kids should have no cell phone while they’re in class, which is understandable, but for them trying to the rules keeping it so the length of time, I’m against that,” said Angela Scott, a parent.

The Richmond County Board of Education sent out a survey to parents and students a couple of months before the policy became effective and had an overwhelming response in favor of it.

“We would welcome the petitioners to come as any other public commenter would be welcome to come to our board meeting and present their information,” said Charlie Walker, Board Chairman, Richmond County Board of Education. “The school system would gladly accept it. The board would review it. Would there be any changes in the policy? Probably not at this time.”

That’s because the policy is so new, and the BOE supports it and has researched the subject. Walker still encourages people to attend meetings and share their thoughts.

You can find the location and meeting times on The Richmond County Board of Education’s website here .

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