Region One schools weigh student cellphone policies

FALLS VILLAGE — In February’s State of the State address, Governor Ned Lamont (D) said, “All too often, our young people find themselves too distracted by their smartphones and disconnected from the reality of what is happening around them, including while in their classrooms, and it’s having negative impacts on their learning and mental well-being. It is crucial that we adopt stronger policies to address this issue head-on.”

There are growing concerns that cellphone use can impact brain development and mental health.

In Region One, which includes the towns of Cornwall, Falls Village, Kent, North Canaan, Salisbury, and Sharon, Superintendent of Schools Melony Brady-Shanley said, “We will be discussing this topic at our next region-wide policy meeting. Each of our schools have a ‘practice’ and a related technology usage policy that prohibits the usage of a cellphone/personal technology during the instructional day.”

She added that “The Region-wide policy will be discussing the formality of this in the coming weeks related to each grade level,” (elementary, middle, high).Brady-Shanley said that the next step would be approval by the Board of Education, “once a policy is drafted”.

At Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Principal Ian Strever explained, “Our procedure at the high school is that all students are expected to put their cellphones in the caddies that are in each classroom. They must remain there for the duration of the period unless a teacher allows use of them for instructional purposes.” He added, “We do allow some exceptions to the procedure for students who require them for medical reasons.”

“Those teachers who have implemented this procedure in previous years report excellent results, and we are looking forward to how this approach will impact students across the school.”

All of the Region One schools hold students responsible for the safety of their devices and say it is “a privilege, and responsibility, not a right” to have a cell phone in school.

Students may not use their phones for sending harassing messages or cyberbullying, to access pornography, or to take pictures of other students without permission according to current Region One policies.

Cellphone policies for each elementary school are available on their websites in the Student Handbooks. The schools’ policies agree that during classes, cellphones should be in a caddy or lockers and should be turned off during school hours.

Violations of these rules can result in loss of cellphone privileges and having to leave the phone at home.

Simon Markow, a junior at HVRHS, spoke from a student’s point of view. “My feelings toward the new cellphone rules are a little split. I think the rules are very strict, but so far, I have seen some students work a little harder and be more focused, but the phones do come in handy at times.”

Before the new phone caddie rules, Markow said, “The problems were just kids playing games during school hours, all hours. It got boring after a while when everyone, but a few, were on phones during lunch or classes.”

Markow likes to use his phone to organize. “With not having my phone in class, I have to write my homework or events down while walking the halls.”

He summed it up. “I think the phone policy is good for some students, but it doesn’t help everyone.”