Michelle Grunyan
Who: LAUSD
What: Cell phone ban
When: Beginning during the start of spring semester, stricter policy regarding pouches in February
Where: Hollywood (school wide)
Why: part of growing trend among schools across the country and state to ban cell phones; minimize distractions in classrooms; curb cell phone and screen addictions; concerns over youth mental health
District wide phone ban takes effect this semester
Students at Hollywood will soon have to contend with going through a school day entirely without their cell phones. Starting this spring semester, the district wide phone ban will kick in, joining a growing number of school districts across the country to ban the usage of cell phones.
Currently, cell phones are highly encouraged to be out of sight at all times during school hours. The policy includes red signs posted throughout the school encouraging, “out of sight, off the table, off the body, in a bag.”
Starting in February, however, students will be given individual velcro pouches where they will be required to store their phone for the entirety of the school day.
“It was one of the options that was offered to us by the district,” said PAM & NMA Magnet Coordinator Ali Nezu, “and it was the one that when the administration sent out that survey to students, to parents, and to faculty members, got the highest number of votes.”
Among the other options offered by the school district were a pouch with a lock, portable lockers or cell phone hanging bags in classrooms.
Velcro pouches allow students to easily access their cell phones in the case of an emergency, compared to the other options available.
The policy involving the individual pouches will be based on an honor system. Students will be expected to comply with the rules and keep their phones in velcro pouches throughout the day, which will then be stored in their backpacks. If students fail to follow these restrictions, additional support will be offered by the school to help students avoid excessively using their phones.
If students “are not responsive to requests to do so”, said Ali Nezu, “then [we will] have their cell phones kept in one of the portable lockers in one of the administrative offices.”
SAS teacher, Steven Steinberg, shares his input towards the phone ban by describing it to be “a ban without any teeth”.
“You’re not really doing much more than we already do”, said Steven Steinberg, “you’re asking students to put their phones in their backpack…except now you’re putting it in a pouch.”
“I’m not sure whether it’s a token effort to have a phone quote-on-quote — I won’t call it a ban.”
Helen Prokopenko, a SAS junior, also expresses how big of a difference cellphone bans will make towards student learning. “I don’t expect to see a big difference because if people choose not to pay attention in class, it’s their mindset.”
“The phone ban…it’s not really gonna help people concentrate because it’s about their lifestyle,” said Helen Prokopenko, “[…you can’t] force someone to do what they don’t want to do.”
Regardless of an individual’s stance towards the topic, the phone ban is expected to be carried out very soon. Administrators will share more information regarding when the phone bans will be implemented once all preparations are ready.
