Over the past year, South has been implementing the phone caddy and cracking down on the “off and out of sight” policy. About five years ago, the policy started with just keeping your phone in your backpack, and if a student was caught with their phone out, it would be a warning. As society evolves, so does technology, so the real question is, should phones be taken away or should students be trusted to have them on their person?
Principal Cindy Parravano implied that if all students were to comply with the “off and out of sight” policy, no caddy would be necessary.
“I don’t have feelings about policy one way or another, because policy is policy; all I do is enforce it,” Parravano said.
Not all teachers care for the caddies, but they do agree phones are a distraction. Sometimes, teachers taking phones or reinforcing the caddy is seen by students as strict or even mean, and this can take a toll on student-teacher relationships. Teachers can find it difficult to teach when they have to reinforce policy, but they get in trouble as well when students have their phones out.
“It should not be on me [to get in trouble], the policy is difficult to enforce,” the anonymous teacher said.
Overall, teachers have mixed feelings about the caddy, feeling that if students don’t put their phones up or have them off, it can harm their ability to teach, distracting students and teachers. Yet still, some like Art teacher Thomas Szmrecsanyi feel some need for phones in their class.
“The constant reinforcement drains valuable teaching time and energy,” Szmrecsanyi said. “Teachers set expectations to create a productive environment, but when we are forced to ‘micro-manage’ repeated misbehavior, it diminishes the learning experience for everyone. Our focus should be on teaching, not battling distractions.”
Coming from the perspective of a student, Montgomery Tomaselli Sfalcin ’27 came up with a new idea. He thinks the caddy should be optional. Students who feel the need or want to put their phones in the caddy can, as can the students who wish to keep them, but if they are seen with their phone out, then it will be confiscated.
“[The phone policy] is beneficial on paper, but at the end of the day, it just makes students more anxious,” Sfalcin said.
The controversial phone policy more or less makes students feel untrusted. A majority of students are willing to pay attention during lessons rather than letting their phones be a distraction.
“The caddy should be a choice. You should let the students who are going to stay on their phone lose the grade because that’s their priority,” Sfalcin said. “Phones can be used for good or bad, but if they’re actively monitored, does it matter if students have their phones or not?”
