By: Caroline Polen

Did you know that about 97% of students, ages 11-17, use their phones during the school day? 

The Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Local School District Board of Education had a meeting on Thursday, April 10 where they had a second read of Board Policy 5136 titled, “Personal Communication Devices” or PCDs. 

Audra Dorn, Board vice-president, mentioned that they had discussed this policy quite a bit in their meeting with administrators.

“The policy details basically no cell phones at all [grades] K-8,” Dorn said. “There are some limited areas where high school students may access their phones.”

According to the proposed policy students, grades 9-12, can use their PCDs when the following applies.

A. when the teacher authorizes a student to use a PCD for educational purposes during instructional time;

B. when the Principal authorizes a student to use a PCD for educational purposes during instructional time;

C. during the student’s lunch break;

D. between classes;

E. during school-related events and functions (e.g., after-school activities, extra-curricular activities); or

F. while riding in school vehicles (distracting behavior that creates an unsafe environment shall not be tolerated and may result in the loss of use of the PCD while in a school vehicle.).

The Board discussed revisions that might be made to this list.

“High school administrators asked that we add study hall to that list,” Dorn said. “Especially on block days, study halls can be up to an hour and a half long.”

Kevin Price, Board member, shared the perspective of a parent who contacted him.

“I received an email from a parent about considering extending the cell phone ban to the high school,” Price said. “I’ve heard good things about it. Apparently Beavercreek has something to that effect in place.”

The Board voted to add the words “and/or study hall” on the list of exceptions, to read “C. during the student’s lunch break and/or study hall”

“I think it is in line with what our high school is currently doing,” Dorn said.

“I think from a personal standpoint that the phone policy will have a very minimal change on my school life on a day to day basis,” freshman Hadley McConnell said. “As of now, our teachers request that our phones get put in pouches [on the wall] and we are not on them during class time.”

The Board recognized that this policy may need revisited in the future.

“There is a bill on the floor [of the Ohio legislature] that was initiated by the governor to completely limit all cell phones K-12,” Dorn said. “So we might be voting on something similar again this summer.”

Some students aren’t sure if they think that a phone ban will be beneficial.

“Teachers preach about our phones being a disadvantage to our school lives, when not all the time are we using it in a bad way,” McConnell said. “Having our phones on us in class can give students a lot of resources for projects and losing that privilege could be a disadvantage. I gain good ideas for projects using Pinterest off of my phone so losing the ability to do that will take a minute to adapt to.”