The Phone Ban Policy from the Perspective of a Day Student

Greetings, before I address the big iPhone-shaped elephant in the room, I must say this: there have already been many discussions and concerns pointed at this nine-week pilot program instituted by the faculty and staff so I will try my best to avoid the mundane repetition. - As of now, the phone ban is only in its pilot, which means that the full ban is not yet concrete so there is still time to alter or even remove the ban. Although restriction on the use of the phone could be beneficial for the health of student and faculty, the method of its carrying out should be altered in terms of the school, the relationship between staff and students, and the students themselves to be flexible and open to the, restraints on use of phones at school, though they may be unpleasant.

Indian Springs is an independent and very unique school; it contains a student body with power to carry out and make decisions throughout the institution by its elected Student Government. Unlike the public and private schools in Alabama, Springs gives students a say in the direction of the school, but under the responsibility, of course, of the administrators and faculty to keep structure in the school system. As said before, this school is unlike the others and very independent in that students have more involvement in running the school and policies, which is still seen today. As Mr. Schamberger said, “Indian Springs is one of — if not the last school to administer this phone policy in Alabama”. Though, in his argument it was that we were, in a way, behind the others. We may be behind, but wouldn’t it be odd for a school who prides itself on being unique and independent from other schools across the state to make a decision that will put itself among the others to its own standards? That being considered, for the restriction of phone usage on campus the situation must be give and take. This means that for a restriction to be set there must be flexibility and cooperation between both students and faculty, which has proven to be happening well so far.

Faculty must be on equal ground with the students for the restrictions to be successful. Not every student has to agree with certain decisions but they should be able to voice their reasoning and disagreements with those who are installing the phone policies. This means that both faculty and students should be open for a civil debate and conversation with each other. For a place like Springs, knowledge and participation is crucial in both the student body and staff so both sides should encourage conversation between each other to see different views and maybe get a different perspective on the matter. As I understand, the faculty isn’t using this as a punishment for any student or them trying to make one’s life harder, but rather out of concern for our health. The issue is that this was an immediate decision based solely on faculty feedback that has caused ripples throughout the student body who have felt that they had no say in this nine week pilot. The student perspective could prove beneficial to the phone ban committee to get a better understanding of each student’s situation and could reach both sides to a better compromise.

The phone ban is targeted towards students, which is why student input is so crucial. We the students have to prove why Indian Springs is different from other schools and that we can be responsible for our phones at school, otherwise our arguments are weakened if we prove the need for a complete ban. By this I mean doing what you are not supposed to do during school such as using your note-taking device to watch videos, play games, or anything else that you aren’t supposed to do during a class. It is incredibly depreciating to any student’s argument for more free use of devices during school when a faculty or staff member can bring up a few counter arguments with evidence of a few students who abused their use of their devices. So, unless you want to be greeted with the annoyed faces of your peers and fellow students, do not be the example of why we can’t use our devices. All in all I believe that our school is very capable in being responsible and can work with each other to make Springs a more pleasant environment.

Although the restrictions may be unpleasant and feel inconvenient, we still have the power to prove the school to not implement any ban at all by being more cooperative and open minded to each other's views. If students and faculty can work on even ground with each other about their ideas and everyone schoolwide becomes flexible and adaptable, then whatever decision that comes together from these conditions has a great chance to be beneficial for everyone.