Reaction mixed at Paloma Valley to new policy on cell phones
Editor’s note: This is the first article of the school year written for Menifee 24/7 through a cooperative agreement with Paloma Valley High...
By Justin Kerenyi, Paloma Valley student reporter
Following a school year of students having free reign over their cell phone use in the classroom apart from teacher intervention, the Perris Union High School District is implementing a new cell phone policy. The new policy states that “Students must keep their cellular phones or other mobile communication devices powered off and out of sight during instructional time.”
This new rule has affected students very differently, but the majority feels suppressed by the policy. Many students have come to the belief that the district may have too much power.
“I think that the new cell phone policy revokes the freedoms of high school students,” said Nickolas Reyna, a junior at Paloma Valley High School. “The majority of the student body has to pay the price for the select few problem students who don’t follow the teachers’ instructions.”
Students are feeling as if their educational experience is being reverted into a form that does not reflect the current time period and learning habits of high schoolers.
While students think that this will be a negative change to the school overall, parents disagree.
Angie Gonzalez, a parent of a student at Paloma, voices her conditional support.
“I do think that the change in policy will be positive overall. It will help students concentrate,” she said.
Gonzalez goes on further to reinforce the fact that she agrees with the policy, but to an extent.
“I find it extreme that they are not allowed to use it during the passing period and that they are not allowed to use headphones. I do not see how using their phones in these ways would affect their learning,” she said.
Gonzalez stated that the idea that the foundations of the policy are strong, solid ideas, and that the school will be better off for this new frontier on cell phone discipline.
While Reyna outright disagrees with the policy, and Gonzalez agrees with it to a certain point, James Wrede, an assistant principal in charge of student discipline at Paloma Valley, believes that every part of the policy is positive for not only the school, but the students themselves.
“Because we are no longer competing with apps designed to constantly take away student attention, students will be able to focus more on their classes’ instructions,” he said.
Wrede continues his statement, speaking on any problems with the policy.
“There are always issues … today, we confiscated around 30-35 cell phones from the entire student body of 2,600 students.”
Wrede quotes a policy disobedience rate of under 2 percent, which is amazing for a new policy geared toward teenagers.
“On the first day with the policy implemented, I actually saw students communicating with each other, rather than looking down at their phones. It felt like we went back in time,” said Wrede, who is passionate about the policy, saying that all aspects of it are geared toward students being their best selves.
Overall, different people have different perspectives on the topic. While students believe that cell phones are a necessary tool for the classroom, parents disagree, stating that they hurt the overall classroom efficiency. School administrators, on the other hand, believe that, without a doubt, the new policy will have a deep impact, not only on the school, but on the students’ lives.
As this new endeavor for Paloma Valley High School ages, only time will tell the impact it will have on students and the district as a whole.
