Basin school district seeks input on cell phone policy
Riverside Middle High School Principal Matt Jensen said the district wants input from a variety of sources about cell phones in school. A committee was formed to review the current policy and make changes as appropriate. Staff, parents, students and community members input is sought.
“We just want to review our cell phone policies,” said Jensen. “The governor and state superintendent have said they would like the school districts to do this.”
He continued that cell phones can be such an amazing tool with the technology at your fingertips. The committee is asking: What is appropriate use? What is a distraction? What can help?
“This is not an anti-technology thing,” he said. “Kids are still going to have information at their fingertips. It is just a matter of how we can better utilize cell phones if we are going to allow them in school. Or try and figure out a process for cell phones to not be visible in school so we don’t have those distractions.”
School counselor Kellie Gloy is a committee member. She has concerns about the negative effects of social media including cyber bullying. Students
come in and are upset because of things other people are posting about them.
“There has been a lot of increase of kids in my office from ‘so and so said this’ to ‘look at this,’” she said.
She asks if the student has blocked the people making the posts. Even if they have, the other students are talking about it. There are tears and distraction from them doing their schoolwork. Sometimes students are in a fight with their parents over the phone. This causes distraction and tears too. “No academics are getting done,” she said. “It’s just a pretty big interruption.” She tells students to put their phone away, out of sight, out of mind for a least a little bit.
Committee member and teacher Stuart DesRosier talked about the difference between bus rides years ago versus bus rides now. “Socialization is a huge thing. You may remember being on bus rides as a student coming back from an event. It was loud. Bus trips are not loud
any longer. No one talks. We are having issues with social interaction. They don’t know how to talk to a person.”
DesRosier and Jensen added it is difficult for them to even make a phone call because they would rather just send a text or an emoji. Gloy agreed.
Jensen added that when they get out into the world, they will have to look another person in the eye. “A lot of soft skills are needed to hold a job.”
“Aside from cyber bullying, the social isolation is a huge factor. We say we are on social media, that is not the same. It leads to problems with mental health,” explained DesRosier
He continued that the process is multifaceted. The committee has looked at policies from other school districts and picked them apart. “We like this but what if there is a lock down, etc.” Gloy noted it has been very interesting for the committee to see other districts’ policies.
From a teacher’s point of view, Jensen expounded it is hard because of the distractions from the phone. They must tell students to get off their phones.
Another concern is that technology today allows for manipulation of images, videos, voice, etc., such as deepfakes. Deepfakes are defined as “realistic images, videos, or audio recordings that are manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI) to make it appear as if someone said or did something they didn’t.”
Jensen said this is something that worries him. “It’s not just a so and so said something mean. The manipulations could really disrupt someone’s life. It is easy to say if you don’t want to get cyber bullied then get off your phone. At the same time, back in the day when we were young, you could go home and get away from things. But now you can’t stop the train of social bullying on social media. It keeps going whether you are a part of it or not.”
Riverside schools are a one-on-one school. This means each student is issued a computer. DesRosier said the district can block some things from that computer. If the students take care of the computer, they may take it with them when they graduate. “They don’t need their phones because they have access to information on the computer,” he said.
Jensen said they have sent surveys this week to parents via email. There will be a community forum Jan. 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the commons. After the forum and a review of surveys, the committee will make recommendations to the school board.
He stressed that the school really wants input before making a policy.