The new cell phone policy change has swept through the school, banning the use of cell phones and Apple watches in the hallways, in class, and during lunch. This decision was made during the summer, Vice Principal Aaron Hollingshead said. “My understanding [is] that they [LOSD School Board] felt that they had enough evidence — physiological, scientific, and a surgeon general warning — on the ill effects of social media. They felt strongly convicted to do something about it.”
The school administration has been enforcing the policy. Hollingshead said, “So far we have taken about 120 or so phones which is about 25 phones a day.” The school has been cracking down on the use of phones in school with the three-strike rule: first strike is your phone being taken for the day; the second strike is your phone being taken for the day, and a guardian needs to pick it up; and the third phase is a corrective plan being implemented, meaning that the student may have to turn in their phone at the front or work out something to avoid having a phone at school.
The school board had many discussions this summer and consulted student representatives. Junior Jon Lufkin, LOHS’s student representative, helped present to the school board why Lake Oswego School District should have the phone policy. Lufkin said, “We convinced the board to implement it… the board already had the idea, I just affirmed it.” The school board is following what other School Boards have been doing around the state and country with the phone policy.
The administration in the school has been overwhelmingly happy with the change and pleasantly surprised with the ease of implementing the new policy. English teacher Max Lanocha said, “I am very much in favor of the policy… and I expected it to be a bigger issue, I expected more push back, but it’s been pretty easy.” Another thing teachers and administrators alike have been happy to see is more connections being made between students. Biology and anatomy teacher Amy McNeely said, “I just think it allows for students to connect more. I see a lot more people chatting in the halls, and I saw a lot more interaction at the last assembly than any other recently.” Hollingshead has also enjoyed more people talking and believes that it will increase students’ social skills: “In terms of our observations it’s like soft skills are re-emerging. Teachers are telling us that more students are greeting them, and more students are showing up on time. Many more students are reading, and one thing that you may have noticed is that the halls are much louder, and we love that.”
