Last month, student representatives on the board of the Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) administered a survey to gauge how students and faculty are faring with a new policy that prohibits use of cellphones during the school day. They shared these results at the board’s Wednesday, October 9, meeting.
Some 200 students – mostly ninth graders – and 50 faculty members responded to the survey.
The student board reps found that at least 29% of student respondents said they felt more connected to their peers with the implementation of the new policy, while 80% of faculty respondents said they felt more connected to their students. An even higher percentage of faculty observed their students to be more socially connected with each other.
IMPROVED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Twenty-five percent of students and 81% of faculty said they perceived improvement in the learning environment at Harwood, and finally, 37% of students and 93% of faculty said they felt that student engagement in classes has improved.
Overall, between 51-63% of student respondents said they did not experience increased social connection, an improved learning environment or higher levels of classroom engagement.
(A note: Since the survey asked open-ended qualitative questions about one’s experience with the new policy, up to 20% of student responses for each question could not be neatly mapped onto yes/no categories and were, therefore, not factored into the counts above.)
IT’S GOING WELL
A student representative told board members that the pushback from students on the new policy was not substantial. “It’s definitely something we’re settling into,” the student rep said. “People are living in this reality, and I believe that it’s going well.”
Harwood Union Middle/High School became a phone-free space beginning this year – with students in grades 7-12 required to store their cellphones and other Bluetooth devices like smartwatches in locked plastic pouches throughout the day. The district purchased the pouches for $21,000 with federal emergency relief funds.
The new policy was intended to strengthen student engagement and improve student mental health and well-being, according to school administrators.
Student board reps also shared a host of comments submitted by survey respondents during last Wednesday’s meeting.
OTHER WAYS
One student wrote, “I think having no phones has been good for me and my peers, we have been able to interact more with less distractions.”
Others said that while they don’t take issue with the new policy, the implementation and enforcement of the new policy are flawed. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea to ban the use of phones, but I think the pouches work terribly,” one student wrote.
“I definitely think there are other ways we can handle [this] in the future,” another said.
Several students commented that the inability to get in touch with family members during the school day is problematic. “I’m not just going to pop open my computer in the middle of the hallway to email my mom who barely checks her email,” a 12th grader wrote, adding that the inability to set up reminders on one’s cellphone or to notify work supervisors about scheduling conflicts as they arise during the day also posed issues.
SCHEDULING ISSUES
Faculty responses to the survey had a different tone. “My students are having more conversations with me and with each other,” a faculty member wrote. “I am finding out more about them and building better relationships, instead of always nagging them to put their phones away. I’m relieved to not be fighting about phones anymore.”
Another faculty member said, “My students have turned to games and movies on their Chromebooks to avoid work, now that they don’t’ have their phones. I still think this is better, because at least they aren’t communicating negatively with each other or coordinating times out of class.”
“It’s a huge positive shift and I wouldn’t go back,” a teacher wrote.
SIXTY VIOLATIONS
Student board reps shared some additional numbers. They said that between September 27 and October 7 of this year, there were 60 violations of the new policy – with the vast majority at the high school level and 36% of these associated with just seven students.
Last year at this time, student reps said there were three investigations into student hazing, harassment, and bullying. So far, this school year, there are zero.
Finally, 126 more library books are in circulation this year (482) compared to last year (356), the reps said.
They told board members that the survey results were not intended to justify the purchase of the cellphone pouches.
