Phone policies: students either love or hate them. Most students and staff at the high school have a strong opinion about them. While most are fine with putting their phones into the provided pockets, others are not fans of the new expectations they are required to follow.

    Some teachers loosely follow enforcing the policies, others like health teacher Mrs. Dede Rush, enjoy having the requirements and follow them completely.    

    “At the beginning of the hour, I say that it is the expectation that all phones are in the pockets up front, and if you choose to not follow the expectation you will be expecting a technology violation,” said Rush. “I like that my kids aren’t on their phones all the time.”

  While the staff leans toward supporting the policies, many of the student body is not as positive. This includes freshman Luke McCann.

  “I feel like, the staff shouldn’t be able to take my phone,” said McCann. “We should be able to choose whether or not we use the pockets, we own our phones, the school doesn’t.”

   Mrs. Amanda Anspaugh, administrator and parent, explains while some students say it has gotten more strict over the years, she disagrees.

  “I don’t think the policies are any stricter, the only difference is that we have the expectation that you will put your phone away in the pockets on the wall,” said Anspaugh. “The only change was that previously the policy said the teacher would initiate the use, and as long as we didn’t see it, you could have it on you.”

   Overall, the phone expectations seem to be getting stricter to the majority of the student body. Whereas to most of the staff and administrators, it is the opposite.

In the end, the school was not meant for Snapchatting friends, or liking friends’ recent posts on Instagram. Usually, students come to school to learn and mature. Regardless of the opinions on the phone policies, they are here to stay.