There’s no doubt that Mundelein High School has a new elephant in the room: “room” as in a classroom, and “elephant” as in the new cell phone policy that MHS enforced this year. Wherever a student might be in the building, they can expect to see a cloth caddy that holds places for phones.
Not only has Mundelein turned to using cell phone caddies to limit students’ usage of their phones during class, but schools all around the nation are enforcing similar protocols. However, each school is choosing a slightly different approach; for instance, particular schools in Ohio, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania have all used locking phone pouches that disable students from using their phones even during passing periods.
Administrators and staff members report recognizing the issue of phone addiction for years on end.
Interim Principal, Mike Souza, said “Our teachers and staff were noticing that there was a difficulty with student engagement in the classroom, and the phones were a big part of the distraction that was causing students not to be engaged.”
Souza elaborated that it was difficult for teachers to constantly re-direct students towards what they were supposed to be doing: growing as learners.
Ever since the phone caddies were put into place, classroom learning has evolved to a whole new level.
English teacher, Ernie Billittier, spoke on the difference in student engagement before and after the cell phone policy was enforced. “This school year has felt markedly different in a positive way. I have to spend less time, meaning class time, managing behavior and constantly having that discussion with students over and over and over again to put phones away,” said Billittier.
Not only have teachers noticed an increase in classroom engagement, but students such as Senior Nalani Stanczak mentioned the benefits that the cell phone policy has had on her education. “Without my phone, I feel more productive in class and less distracted. It is much easier to maintain focus in class and obtain a better understanding of what my teachers are talking about,” said Stanczak.
Even with recent successes, the phone policy has nonetheless faced challenges.
Souza said, “I think it’s working. We are not unrealistic. We know at points with things like this, we’re going to run into some issues. I think it’s still going pretty strong from the feedback I’m hearing. The important thing to remember is our number one goal: to preserve that classroom time, and if that’s happening, then the other little things that are happening on the fringe are things we can try to deal with and work with.”
He added that he hopes the system will solely become smoother with more time to come. “Our eighth graders come in from the middle schools, and they’re used to not having their phone already anyway,” said Souza, “We’re hopeful it’ll become more and more just part of the norm of what students expect when they go to school.”
Stanczak also acknowledged that the adjustment to the phone policy wasn’t easy. “Although I was skeptical about the new phone policy at first, I have grown to really appreciate it. I have been able to better communicate with my peers in class and feel a better sense of connection,” she said.
Billittier still notices some students who have had a hard time putting their phones in the caddy. However, he said that “it’s with only a couple of kids.” Billittier mentioned that he only has to remind students to put their phones away during the transition into class after the bell rings.
Besides a quick reminder to put phones in the caddy, Billittier said that he hasn’t “…experienced any combative nature [to the phone policy], which has been great.”
In fact, Billittier said that he gives credit to the students for not making the policy a bigger issue than it really is.
MHS administration and staff created the idea of using a caddy for phones because it involved the phone being a large enough distance away from the students where it wouldn’t cause distractions while still remaining within eyesight of the students.
Souza said, “Our goal in this is obviously to preserve the classroom and learning time, but it’s also to help students learn how to self-regulate their cell phone use.” He further explained how he didn’t want there to be a 100% ban on any cell phones in the school. He wanted to ensure that students could “…also quickly and easily grab [their phones] to use different passing periods.”
MHS chose the caddy system for its accessibility. Cell phone policies that entail locking up phones were especially criticized after the school shooting in Georgia that occurred on Sep. 4.
Even though MHS wanted to maintain students’ proximity to their phones by having them stay inside the classroom, Souza said that the administration did not make this decision based on possible emergencies.
“Anytime there’s a large-scale incident, something like, unfortunately, what happened in Georgia, the local cell phone towers can only hold up to 200 calls at a time,” Souza said, “So your cell phones aren’t going to work anyway. In a real serious emergency, the police and first responders take over priority on all those wavelengths as well.”
Souza added, “If there’s an emergency, our staff, our administrators, are all trained on how to handle those different types of emergencies. We go through that training every single year. We take it very seriously, and none of that training ever involves students using cell phones.”
Even if cell phone towers cannot place unlimited calls, there is a sense of security for students that if an emergency occurs, they could contact their parents or anyone else for help.
Stanczak said, “I don’t want my first worry in any scary situation to be ‘where’s my phone?'”
She added, “Before I feel comfortable locking away my phone, I need to see more safety protocols with security preventing any possible situations like a school shooting.”
Because of the positive feedback and observations from the new cell phone policy, Souza said, “We don’t have any big ideas or big changes that we foresee coming. It’s always hard the first year after a big change [such as the addition of the caddy system], but we’re hopeful for the future.”
