Phone ban response from Carson High admin, teachers — and even students — overwhelmingly positive

Students are now several weeks into the school year at Carson High School, with the newest rule firmly in place: a complete ban of phones both inside and outside the classroom during school hours.

The introduction of the Yondr pouch was a controversial one, with some students and parents protesting the idea. However, since its implementation, administration, teachers, and surprisingly the students who Carson Now spoke with have agreed the new policy has been extremely positive.

Many parents were concerned they would not be able to get ahold of their students instantly — which is one of the very reasons the Yondr pouches were introduced in the first place: distraction.

Teachers, administration and even most students agreed that phones were a constant distraction, but not only that, they were also inhibiting socializing.

Now, there has even been reports of a resurgence of an ancient, long-dead technology: passing notes in class.

Sound returns to hallways, common areas

Freshman Emmy Cooper said that for her and her class, the rules aren’t a new thing. While she attended Carson Middle School, students were not allowed to use phones, and while students were looking forward to being allowed to use them at high school, she agrees with the new policy.

“I’m definitely disappointed, but it’s not as bad as I expected,” Cooper said. “There’s no real difference from last year.”

However, Cooper said she picked up on the changes from teachers and older students.

“My biology teacher came in and we were all talking before class started,” Cooper said. “He said 'wow, I’m going to have to ask you to quiet down, but I’ve never seen this before, usually everyone’s just on their phone.' He said he was happy that he had to tell us to be quiet.”

This was a consistent response from all teachers, students and administration.

Carson High School Principal Dan Carstens said the differences between this year and previous years are “night and day.”

“The first thing I noticed was how loud it was at lunch on the first day,” Carstens said. “I came out and wondered if there was a fight but instead, it was just students talking to each other. It’s like we were back in the 90s.”

This school year, there has also been a significant decline in behavioral issues.

“Last year, five weeks in, we had twice as many documented accounts of disrespect or insubordination,” Carstens said. “Fights have been almost halved.”

Carstens said he believes one of the reasons is that the presence of phones influence this negative behavior. Some students would initiate an altercation to record it, or students would even feel the need to fight because phones were recording.

Administration support

One of the big changes that has occurred is that phone issues are handled by administration, not teachers.

In previous years, disrespect and insubordination often involved phones: a student would refuse to put their phone away in class, a teacher would attempt to remove the phone, and a power play would begin.

“There were so many negative interactions between students and teachers around the phones, which was also taking away class time,” Carstens said.

Now, teachers don’t even have to speak to students about the phones. Instead, they send a message to administration, and shortly afterward, someone will arrive and ask the student to briefly step out of class, and the phone is confiscated.

“It’s great not having to be the bad guy anymore,” said chemistry teacher Ty McMillen. “The level of respect has increased across the board, especially in the hallways.”

McMillen said students are so much more engaged, not only in their classwork, but with their peers as well.

“They’re talking to each other,” McMillen said. “There are so many fewer disturbances and, if they do occur, people aren’t whipping their phones out to record.”

McMillen said the rule has also taught students the importance of self regulation. He said many students have found they don’t even need the pouches, and are able to simply keep their phones turned off and put away for the entire day. For other students, they’ve discovered the pouches allow them to be free from the distraction.

So far, according to Carstens, there have been 144 cell phones confiscated, which is averaging to around 29 per week.

“It’s basically one percent,” Carstens said. “If a kid was getting a 99% in class, we’d be happy. We’re never going to be perfect, but we’re going to be consistent.”

Classwork aspects still need addressing

Senior Eleanor Romeo said this has been the most enforced rule she has experienced in her four years at Carson High School.

“Last year there were some teachers who had phone lockers or pouches hanging on the walls for us to put our phones away, especially during tests,” Romeo said. “Now, we’re expected to have them away all of the time. In the first couple of weeks, it seemed like teachers were a little confused about the new rule but in the past few weeks, they’ve become really strict about it.”

Romeo said there are still some issues with banning their phones when it comes to school work, however.

She took a graphics design class last year and a large portion of it was sourcing photos from the internet. The issue was, despite it being a school assignment, the school computers had blocked the ability to search for photos, and students had to use their phones.

She said as far as she knows, there hasn’t been a workaround for students yet this year, and they simply have to source the photos on their own time using non-school devices.

She said there are also several apps that are locked down that they have been waiting to be unlocked by school administration.

Romeo is a part of student council, and they utilize an app to communicate about school council plans and issues. However, the app is blocked from school devices, which has made communicating during school hours difficult.

“You can put requests in to have apps unblocked, but it’s a pain,” Romeo said. “We’re still waiting to hear about whether or not it can be added.”

Despite this, Romeo, like Cooper, said she does agree with the policy and believes it should continue.

“I think the measures the school is taking matches the energy (of students),” Romeo said. “If people aren’t going to listen or follow rules, this is what happens. Phones are an abused technology; people were consistently using them to cheat and not pay attention.”

Romeo said she believes one of the underlying issues is that some students feel they’re better than the school, and better than the rules, and they’ve formed a reliance to stay entertained and keep up their energy.

“Even though it’s public school and we’re not paying for it, it’s a privilege to be here,” Romeo said. “The kids that are the most angry, I feel, are the ones with the biggest reliance on them, and feel disconnected now. They’re the ones who have broken the pouches, or have to go the restrooms to use them.”

Cooper also noted this, saying that for many, phones are a way to stay connected and entertained if they don’t have any hobbies or activities outside school.

Romeo and Cooper both agreed that for the students who are still angry about the new policy, there should be some self-reflection.

“We should all ask, ‘how reliant am I on this?’” Romeo said.

“I think there is some amount of comfort knowing you have access to your phone, in case there’s an emergency,” Cooper said. “So I can understand having some anxiety about it being locked up, and not being able to get ahold of your parents or whoever you feel comfortable with if you need to tell them something.”

Safety concerns

One of the biggest pushbacks from parents surrounding the new policy was the fact that they did not trust the district to be able to alert them in a timely manner if there was an issue.

At the end of last year, a lockdown went into place after a student reported seeing what they believed looked like a gun, but turned out to be a portion of a bicycle lock.

During that time, the school was locked down and searched, but parents were not informed of the lock down until after the media — and their own students — reported on it, and misinformation spread from student to parents.

The lack of information, parents said, caused real fear for their families.

“We heard what people were saying, and it’s valid,” Carstens said. “This year, we’re implementing new policies to inform parents as soon as there is a lock down, even if it’s a drill.”

Carstens said a roll out of this new policy will be coming next month, at which point the school will undergo a lockdown drill, and a message will be sent out to parents via Parent Square.

“We’ll have a designated admin, as well as a back up admin, who will be in charge of getting that information out,” Carstens said.

Carstens said something they were not prepared for, but probably should have been, was the increase of calls to the front office from parents with messages for students. In one case, a parent was unable to get through.

“We don’t want to sacrifice our customer service,” Carstens said. “We’re working on new ways to make sure that every parent who needs to reach us is able to.”

While there have been challenges in the new policy, teachers, administration and students agree things have improved now that phones are put away.

“It’s going well and I believe we now have the support of the community,” Carstens said. “I even had one parent who was against the policy at first, and then told me she realized she had become a bit of a nag being able to contact her student constantly. I understand the anxiety of not being able to have access to your child, but I think now, parents are realizing that everything is okay.”

Another community meeting is going to be set up around mid October, Carstens said, for families to come and talk with administration and staff about how the policy is going.

“If there’s something we need to improve on, we want to hear it,” Carstens said.