While other schools in the area like Carlisle and Shippensburg have put full phone bans in place during school hours, Big Spring continues to let students use their phones at various times throughout the day.Students, staff and administrators all have different opinions on phones in school and their uses.
According to the Big Spring Student Handbook, cell phones should not be seen, heard, or used during class unless the teacher says otherwise. No pictures should be taken either unless given permission by the teacher. These policies have been here for years and are enforced in most, if not all, classrooms.
According to “The Rise and Impact Of Phone Bans In U.S. Public Schools,” cell phone policies are implemented because of “growing concerns about distraction, mental health, and safety, state legislatures and school boards across the country are implementing bans on student phone use during the school day.” School districts in many states and even in neighboring districts like Carlisle and Shippensburg have put in place a full phone ban during school hours, but Big Spring has not.
Joseph Kucker, a social studies teacher, said, “I am not against cell phones in school, but I believe students should be taught proper uses of cell phones in school.” He also said that “a total cell phone ban will never fully work and with the rise of violence across the country, students should have their phones to contact their parents in case of danger; however if a student is told they can not have their phone out and they do not listen, they should have harsher consequences.”
Michael Carnes, principal at Big Spring High School says, “Students use their phones for projects all the time.” He believes that a cell phone ban would limit student’s creativity when doing projects.
Kelly Shenk, an English teacher at Big Spring, says she wants a cell phone ban in the building. She believes that it would be helpful to have a cell phone ban but says, “Students will always find a way to sneak their phones.” She says that there should be universal consequences for having cell phones out in class.
Students have differing opinions on cell phone policies. Olivia Brown, Junior at Big Spring, believes that cell phones should be banned during class. She said, “There should be a cellphone ban during class but teachers should not be able to take cell phones away because they are student’s property.” She does believe that cell phones should be permitted at lunch and B and C flexes.
Lena Ryan, another Junior at Big Spring, believes that most students in our school handle their cell phones properly, so she believes that Big Spring made the right decision to not have a cell phone ban, but other schools like Carlisle and Shippensburg may have put the cell phone ban in place because students couldn’t handle their phones properly in school.
Despite the policies for cell phones in the school handbook, the use of technology in school will continue to be a debate for years to come.
