MERIDIAN, Idaho — We are several weeks into the school year, so Meridian Neighborhood Reporter Allie Triepke is checking in with students about West Ada School District's 'no cell phones in classrooms' policy.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
“Just in 6 weeks I have noticed I have talked to more people than I had in all of my years of high school,” said Little.
Meridian High School Seniors Athena Little, Alayna Cottrell, and Karah Vink sharing with me the impact of unplugging from their cell phones during class.
“I know my first thoughts were, ‘Why couldn’t it wait one more year?’,” said Cottrell.
Cottrell says her and some students were worried how the policy would play out, but weeks into the school year, so far, so good.
“I think it’s been really nice to have a set time in my day where I am not on my phone. So, that helps me with breaking those bad habits,” said Vink.
Relief from notifications, allowing more time to focus on what they can learn next, and building community within their classes.
“What I’ve noticed is kids are more eager to learn,” said long-time teacher and advisor Chad Bloxham.
And before the district-wide policy, each classroom might have had conflicting expectations for students, “You’d just kind of turn your head to it a little bit, because there was nothing you were going to be able to do about it,” said Bloxham.
And now, “So that’s why this year is so much different,” said Bloxham.
He says teachers have seen a noticeable difference in the students' social skills too, “What we’ve found is that kids are a lot more open to talking and working in small groups, so that has been great.”
Preparing for life in a digital world, West Ada students still have technology at their fingertips in the classroom and at home — on their student laptops.
I asked the three students what their parents thought of the policy, and they told me their parents are on board with less phone screen time, and when it comes to emergency communication with family, faculty is confident in the district’s plans and outreach.
With less distraction in their last year of high school, Athena, Alayna and Karah tell me they’re excited for student body events, activities like marching band, and of course, rivalry games, saying “‘Stinky Sneaker’ is awesome every year!”
