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A tough phone call to make
Students speak out against school district plan to go phone-free
Phone-free school public forum
BY JASON STARR Observer staff
WHEN:
A step backward in time. That’s how CVU students who spoke at the March meeting of the Champlain Valley School Board described the administration’s proposal to ban cell phone use at the high school starting this fall. “The number one priority of the school is to prepare students for their futures rather than dragging us into the past,” sophomore Avery Siket said during the March 18 meeting. “While I understand that phones can be abused,” she continued, “we as a school district need to work on teaching students how to appropriately coexist with their phones, instead of disregarding the importance they hold.”
“Prepare students for their futures rather than dragging us into the past.” Avery Siket CVU sophomore
The meeting was the first chance students and parents had to publicly comment on the proposal. The district is seeking more feedback with a “phone-free schools community panel and forum” scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 16 at the CVU library. It also launched an online survey on the topic that can be found at cvsdvt. org. The district convened a phone-free schools committee of students and administrators last September to research the
Wednesday, April 16, 6-7:30 p.m.
WHERE: CVU library
CVU junior Gracie Sanchez speaks at the March 18 meeting of the Champlain Valley School Board in the high school library. OBSERVER PHOTO VIA MEDIAFACTORY.ORG
possibility. Other high schools in Vermont had already made the move, and lawmakers have since introduced a bill that would ban cellphone use in schools statewide. The committee’s survey of CVU teachers showed 89 percent support for a ban. That result coupled with an October visit to newly phone-free Harwood Union High School and research about the negative effects of social media on teenage mental health, convinced the committee to recommend a cell phone ban at CVU. The district’s K-8 schools already prohibit student use of phones during the school day. Current policy at CVU is that students refrain from phone use during class time, but phone use is permitted during free periods, in hallways and bathrooms, and in the
cafeteria. The current policy has proven ineffective, according to school administrators. “There is something very insidious with the way phones creep back into our learning spaces that is unlike other challenges in the past that we have dealt with,” Superintendent Adam Bunting said. STUDENTS SEEK COMPROMISE
Since the committee recommendation, students have taken it upon themselves to conduct a survey on the subject. Junior Gracie Sanchez presented the findings to the board. She said 70 percent of student respondents strongly oppose the ban. Also, 85 percent of respondents said they use their phones for academic tasks, and 90 percent
use them to contact family members during the school day. The majority of student respondents said not having access to their phones during the school day would increase stress and anxiety. “Why can’t we discreetly text our parents without disrupting class?” asked sophomore Willow Martin. “Times have changed and so have the tools available to us. Dismissing modern solutions just because that’s how it used to be … is a step backward.” A draft of the new policy explains that students would have to turn off and store their phones in a secure location provided by administrators during the school day. That would also apply to internet-connected watches and wireless headphones. “The display and/or use of personal electronic devices by students is prohibited during the school day, from the start of the day until dismissal,” the draft policy states. “… Personal electronic devices can create social, intellectual, and emotional barriers to being fully present during school and may disrupt the educational process.” School teachers and staff would also have to abide by the ban, with limited exceptions based on the school’s operational needs, CVU Principal Katherine Riley said. Sanchez proposed a compromise to an all-out ban: strict enforcement of the see PHONES page 16
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