At John F. Kennedy high school, a new phone policy has sparked strong reactions among both students and staff. While some see it as helpful, many feel it goes too far, especially when it comes to phones during lunch and passing periods.
Junior, Tiffany Elliot, explained that while she sees some positives, the restrictions are difficult. She pointed out the danger of not being able to contact family in emergencies, saying “ I forgot my water bottle. I couldn’t contact my mom and I almost passed out.” For senior Jett Ruiz, the policy doesn’t seem worth it. He doubts it will last long, adding, “ I feel like it shouldn’t be a thing and later on it’s not going to be regulated as much.” Students agree the rules are too strict outside of the classroom. Junior Brianna Servin said, “It’s lunch, we don’t have any classes…that’s our only time we could use our phones.” Senior Sarah Abualshar also argued that phones are more than a distraction “What if someone doesn’t have friends in school, so they need their phones to socialize. People have family from overseas, and maybe lunch is their only time to communicate.”
But not all students are strongly against the changes, though. Sophomore Michelle Ruvalcav believes phones should at least be allowed at lunch and during passing periods, explaining, “I think the only thing it should change is that we should be able to have our phones during passing periods and lunch.” Senior Kimberly Flores takes the opposite view, saying,”I think time goes faster when you don’t have your phone.”
Teachers are also divede. Benjamin Tewels, a teacher at Kennedy. He thinks the policy is “overboard”, preferring to let teachers decide in their own classrooms. ”During lunch they should be allowed to use their phones and passing periods are important sometimes when plans change,” he said. Meanwhile, teacher Carrie Zberg the policy for keeping students on task, saying her class followed it well. Others, like teacher Zachart Byant, see it as useful but unrealistic to enforce during lunch. He said “ I think that it’s unrealistic to expect them to have it away at that time.”
Overall, while the administration sees the policy as a way to help students focus, the majority of students feel that restricting phones during lunch and passing periods goes too far.
