Photo by Joselyn King. Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller holds up a YONDR cell phone pouch. The school district plans to purchase 30 of the pouches to house the cell phones of students who do not comply with Wheeling Park High School’s new “cell phone free classroom” policy.
WHEELING – Ohio County Schools is moving to create “cellphone-free classrooms” at Wheeling Park High School by enacting a policy that allows students to keep their cellphones with them throughout the day but prohibits their use during class.
Anyone who violates these rules is sentenced to “cell phone jail,” explains Meredith Dailer, principal of WPHS. This means that the student’s cell phone is kept in a magnetic bag until the end of the school day. Then the student can pick up their phone at a designated location.
A group of teachers, parents and staff who met Thursday at WPHS’s Innovative Learning Center were provided with a printed copy of the proposed cell phone policy and asked to read it, mark suggestions and bring it with them when they return for another meeting in July.
The meeting ended with Superintendent Kim Miller agreeing to order 30 magnetic cell phone cases from the company YONDR, and Dailer announcing that she would also order special calculator cases for cell phones that encase the phone so that it can only be used for mathematical calculations.
Dailer explained that currently, each teacher is free to set cell phone policies for their respective classrooms.
“We have implemented graduated disciplinary measures to deal with students who are repeat offenders,” she said. “But from the teachers who don’t use cell phones and are very consistent about it, the feedback I’ve received is not a problem.”
“However, teachers who want to be cell phone-free and still find it difficult say that a uniform school-wide policy on how to deal with it would make sense.”
The cell phone policy under consideration was drafted by Ohio County Board of Education member and attorney David Croft. In addition to smartphones, the proposed policy would ban the use of smartwatches, earbuds, AirPods and headphones during class time.
Students are allowed to use their private cell phones before class, during class changes and during lunch. All other times are class time during which the use of cell phones is prohibited.
Students place their mobile phones in a numbered compartment and pick them up at the end of class.
The use of mobile phones may be permitted for educational purposes with the teacher’s permission. In case of emergency, students may also ask the teacher for permission to use their mobile phone.
A student who violates this rule for the first time will have their cell phone confiscated by the teacher and returned at the end of the school day. A warning will be given. If a student uses their cell phone in class for the second time, it will be confiscated and returned only to a parent or guardian. The student will be given detention.
A third violation will result in the student being referred to the administration for further disciplinary action. Students who refuse to surrender their cell phones will also face consequences for insubordination.
If a student whose cell phone has been confiscated brings a second cell phone with them for the duration of the confiscation, this will also be considered insubordination under the policy.
Students are responsible for ensuring that their cell phones are kept on silent during class and properly stored in the designated area.
Most of those present – all adults – had their own cell phones with them at Thursday’s meeting and were clearly visible. There was agreement that one of the biggest challenges of the policy will be ensuring that adults at the school are aware of their own cell phone use in front of students.
Dailer pointed out that Brooke County does not allow cell phone use in the classroom and that John Marshall High School’s policy is the same as Ohio County, where teachers can set their own policies. Parkersburg High School uses cell phone caddies and Oak Hill High School in Fayette County bans them only during teacher classes, she reported.
Miller said she has spoken with school superintendent Michele Blatt about student cellphone use and a statewide policy “is in the works.”
“I think we want to have control over what we do before someone else tells us what to do,” she continued. “We want to make sure our teachers get the respect they deserve,
“We also want to teach our students a little self-discipline: that they can put their phones away for 50 minutes and the world still won’t end,” Miller added.
