As most students know, this year, LM introduced a new policy: Off and Away. The district’s goal is to limit cell phone usage; however, while it’s well-meaning, there’s been little observable impact from the student perspective, and students are questioning how “Off and Away” really differs from the previous policy enforcement.
Obviously, learning is the focus of school. Nobody is suggesting that math, english, and the arts should take a backseat to phones, but many experts believe teaching students how to use their phones responsibly may be more effective than implementing restrictive policies as technology becomes more prominent. Saint Marys Area School District (SMASD), a public school district in Pennsylvania, has recently introduced an instructional technology coach whose purpose is to guide students through responsible use of technology, both in and out of the classroom. Brian Toth, the superintendent of SMASD, believes that it is more constructive to teach students how to use cell phones than banning them, just as one learns to use stoves correctly in Family and Consumer Sciences. This concept of teaching students how to use cell phones productively fits well with LMSD’s objective of “building healthy phone habits.” However, there has been no instruction about how students can use their phones productively, minimizing this policy’s ability to truly foster any “culture change,” which as stated by the Off and Away webpage, is one of the district’s goal.
According to LMSD’s website, the policy requires that “when students are in class, devices are to be turned off and put away.” However, this isn’t actually that simple, as the policy leaves a lot up to interpretation. For instance, what exactly is meant by turning cell phones off? Should they be powered down entirely? If so, how can this be enforced? Teachers can’t check every student’s cell phone to see if it’s shut down, at least not without wasting significant class time. If not completely shut down, would these students have their phones on Do Not Disturb, on silent, or simply away? Although “On Silent and Away” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, it makes a lot more sense. Either way, the policy isn’t clear on what it expects and how this can be enforced, and that’s a problem.
Since “Off and Away” was enacted, several class meetings and assemblies this year have discussed the policy. Principal Dr. Johnson has mentioned in these assemblies that many teachers will likely utilize phone pockets to store phones during class. Interestingly enough, this is the same statement given to students at class meetings at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, before “Off and Away” was created, when Johnson told students that many teachers would collect cell phones. Last year, most teachers didn’t collect cell phones, and some didn’t even care if they were on desks. It’s the same thing now, where teachers regulate cell phone usage in their classroom in various ways, but few adhere strictly to “Off and Away.” In fact, if you walk into a classroom and observe the learning process, it’s oftentimes nearly identical to last year. So although “Off and Away” is branded as a district-wide reform, little has changed. When exactly has it been okay for students to use their phones during class? Never. So, in reality, what is “Off and Away” really doing? Not much, clearly, as few changes have been observed as a result of its enactment.
“Off and Away,” although it has a nice sentiment, is, at its core, unclear and ineffective. It doesn’t give concrete instruction as to what cell phones being “off” entails and has created few changes from the student perspective, failing to facilitate the “culture change” cited by LMSD as a goal of the policy. Rather than taking true steps toward helping students to use technology more productively, LMSD has instead decided to create “Off and Away,” which, ironically, is not a new policy but really the previous cell phone policy with a fresh coat of paint and a catchy new name.