Dear Parents and Guardians,
I am sending this email to hopefully allay whatever the parent concerns may be over the new cell phone policy at SET. Your students will surely be talking about this tonight. First, please note that this really is not a new policy; it is just the enforcement of the existing policy, but with the inclusion of passing periods and lunch to help us actually follow through with the enforcement. I will be sharing the audio recording of our discussion with students as soon as I can so that you can hear our rationale for the decision. You will also be able to hear our responses to the legitimate concerns that some of our students shared. We will be working through all of these challenges as a community.
Synopsis of the Cell Phone Policy
- Cell phones will be turned off (completely off) and placed in backpacks from the start of school until the end of school. We will be receiving velcro cell phone pouches soon. These are not lockable, but they will introduce a little extra friction (and an extra reminder) to help students not use their phone.
- Seniors (and second semester Juniors) who have off-campus lunch can use their phones while off campus, but we encourage them to avoid social media during that time. We want them to have access to mapping software and emergency calls.
- Only devices that are used primarily for social media (cell phones and smart watches) are affected by this policy. Computers and game devices, when used at appropriate times, are allowed to be used.
Let me first address what we imagine the parent concerns will be, and then I will try to summarize the rationale for the decision.
Potential parent concerns
- Regardless of how we enforce the non-use of cell phones, students will always be able to utilize cell phones in the event of a school-emergency situation. This means that if we wind up in a situation where the students are in a lock-down situation, students will be able to unlock their phones easily and will be able to communicate with their parents. Even if we wind up using a lockable cell phone pouch (Yondr or similar), we will make sure that there is an unlocking tool in every classroom. I am a parent, and many of our staff are parents, so we completely understand this safety need. Note that in the initial implementation of our cell phone policy, students will be turning off their phones and keeping them in a velcro pouch in their backpacks. It will be easy to remove the phones from the pouch in any emergency situation.
- If the parent is in an emergency situation, students can be reached by calling the front office, emailing the student, or connecting with the student using Google Chat. Students will still have access to their laptops all day. Please remember, parents, that when we were all in school, emergency messages were communicated through the front office. I would argue that any communication that involves an emergency should probably be filtered through school staff first, anyway, so that we can help the student process the information.
- Communicating non-emergency information (like ride planning, etc.) can happen through email and Google Chat. Parents are able to communicate with their student through Google Chat.
Why we are enforcing this policy
- There is increasing concern about the effects of social media on the mental health of children. The Surgeon General has issued an advisory about this and schools are taking notice. Many schools around the world are now instituting cell phone bans in an effort to save our children from the effects of social media. We had a lot of discussion about this as a staff this summer, and we cannot in good conscience ignore this problem. We have seen it ourselves for years, and society is finally recognizing the challenge. We may look like we are jumping out ahead on this, but that is just because we know that we can get the buy-in of our community more quickly than others. Others will be following suit as soon as they are able to figure out how to do it logistically.
- We are not waging a war against technology. This is a war against social media. The access to social media is so much easier, and so much more pervasive on phones, so that is why we are targeting phones.
- We are not trying to control our students. We are trying to help them control themselves. That is why the phones will remain in their possession. We are helping our students learn how to be without their phones for at least 7 hours per day. We are hopeful that this will extend to self-regulation that continues well past the school day.
There are many more concerns that were expressed by our students in the immediate aftermath of learning this news. We are confident that we can work through all of these challenges as a community, and we will all learn how to develop other processes to handle the things that we have come to rely on our cell phones for. We will adapt and I believe that we will be stronger for it.
Thank you for your support, parents. Please let us know if there are additional concerns from the parent perspective. Please try to be solution oriented when you present your suggestions. Also, please note that the cell phone policy will be officially approved by the SET High board at our public board meeting on Wednesday at 5 PM. All are welcome and encouraged to attend our board meetings at any time.
I will send a follow-up email with the audio recording of our discussion with students by tomorrow.
Please note that other than this excitement, it was a great first day. We are thrilled to have a school full of such thoughtful and respectful students!
Thanks!
Dr. McCurdy
