Phones away please: Carson High School implements new cell phone policy

Most students know that feeling when the teacher catches you or someone you know on their phone during class.

For Carson High School’s Academies of Education and Empowerment and Academy of Medical Arts Schools, a new rule has been set in place that takes away the privilege of even having your cellular device during class time. The “phone pouches” are a semi-large pocket charts that are numbered for teachers to use either by seat or by the students’ numbers on the roster.

This new rule was set in place Aug. 20, the first day of school for AMA and AEE. The reason behind this rule was to prevent cell phone use in the classroom so that students can be more productive and attentive and produce better test scores.

Carson High School senior Paris Guilemet shared her thoughts about the thoughts on not having their phone for long periods everyday.

“I need my phone to focus and pay attention in class. Without my phone, it’s just not life,” Guilemet said.

Having a phone during class — whether a student is using it or not — perhaps creates a sense of security because everything a student needs is at an arm’s reach. There are two sides to this story though, some students don’t necessarily enjoy the rule but are somewhat grateful because it allows them to focus more in class.

There is no specific procedure on how phones are collected in every class, it depends on the teacher but before teaching begins phones are collected and put into their rightful pouch space either in the front or back of the class.

“When you first enter class, you’re given a pouch which you have to put your phone in and then you have to put the pouch under your seat or in your backpack,” AEE senior Amiyah Hampton said.

The positives behind this new rule is obvious; it can prevent cheating, plagiarism, and other things that teachers have problems on a daily basis. It also creates a better learning atmosphere for students while the teacher is teaching or explaining content.

“It feels good, no distractions,” AEE senior Trinity Jackson said.

Although this new rule has already positively and negatively impacted students around the Carson High campus, the students who are affected will possibly find a way to bend the rules eventually.

“Students who haven’t already will start to move around the rule and find a way to have their phones,” AMA senior Karrington Elese said.

Results from the use of phone pouches are obviously widespread with the reaction from the students at Carson, but the general school public might react differently. If the effects of this are increasing test scores then perhaps this new rule should be enforced in every classroom to help students.

Though, as stated, students might find away around it, it can become a great policy that will create better opportunities for students and make schools more appealing to parents who wat the best for their children.