This year, as well as part of last year, the Park school district decided to implement a new way to enforce the phone policy, phone caddies. Each teacher was provided with a wooden box containing spots and numbers for students to put their phones into, either at the beginning of class or when the student is caught using it, depending on the teacher’s own policies in the classroom. With it being around two months into the school year, students and teachers alike have been able to form their own opinions on the phone caddies.
Freshman Archery Hassler said teachers could refuse students their phones in bad situations. She said there’s the possibility of someone accidentally grabbing your phone.
“If there’s an emergency, and you need to grab your phone, teachers can be like ‘No, you can’t have your phone,’” Hassler said. “You could put it in a spot and someone could take your phone and think it’s theirs.”
According to junior Nadav Fried, there are different ways to make sure students don’t use their phones when they aren’t supposed to. He said making the internet in the cafeteria better so students can use their phones during the allowed time would reduce the time people spend on their phones during class.
“(Solutions for students not to use their phones during class could be to) make the internet in the cafeteria better, so people can actually use their phone,” Fried said. “If they can use their phone for the time when they’re allowed to, they might not use it as much when they’re not allowed to.”
According to science teacher Megan Siegle, students don’t like phone caddies because they get anxious about not having their phones. She said this could be due to being taken or anything else that could happen in that hour.
“(Students) don’t like (the phone caddies) because I think a lot of students want to see their phone and to have their phone,” Siegle said. “Some students feel nervous when they give up their phone, whether their phone will be stolen or disappear in that class period.”
Hassler said teachers at Park use the phone caddies differently for different students. According to her, she is scared of having her phone taken, so she often chooses not to use it in class.
“Some teachers use phone caddies every single day for every student, and some teachers only use it when (a) student needs to put their phone away,” Hassler said. “I don’t tend to use my phone in class because I have a huge fear of getting it taken away.”
Fried said he doesn’t like the new phone caddies, but they can be useful in certain classes if students aren’t listening. According to him, it’s mostly a tactic used by teachers.
“I don’t like (the phone caddies),” Fried said. “In some classes, they are useful to keep the class under control, but mostly I don’t like it because teachers (can) abuse their power (by) using it.”
According to Siegle, it wasn’t a later decision to use the phone caddies, and she went into the year with the intention of using them. She said this was to start the year in a good place.
“No (it wasn’t a later decision),” Siegle said. “I started the year with them because I wanted to start off the year strong and not have it be a later implementation thing.”
Hassler said if students use their phones disruptively, then they should get them taken away, but that there are ways to use phones in a non-disruptive way.
“I don’t see this being fixed,” Hassler said. “Either you’re a person who uses your phone a lot, and (using your phone) can be okay. I don’t want to say be strict or less strict. If you’re using your phone in class and doing what you’re not supposed to be doing, then get your phone taken away.”
According to Siegle, an alternative option, instead of phone caddies, is for students to give their phones to the front office at the beginning of school each day. She said this solution has worked well at other schools and might be a possibility.
“(An alternate solution for the phone problem is) a school-wide ban, which would include students checking their phones at the office when they come to school every day,” Siegle said. “I think it’s worked better at a bunch of different schools.”
