BOISE, Idaho — As the new school year rings in, Vallivue School District is implementing a no-phone policy for students.
Students will not be able to use their phones from the time they get to school until the time they leave – that includes lunch and passing period, said Joey Palmer, assistant superintendent for Vallivue School District.
Vallivue is the first in the area to prohibit phones for the whole day, not just during class periods.
“The research that we’ve seen – it shows that unless you are willing to put the phone away all day, then the phone policy is almost useless,” Palmer said.
Palmer said if students need to get ahold of their parents, or parents need to get ahold of their students, they can do that through the main office. Previously, Palmer said there was a rule to not have phones in the classroom, but that wasn’t effective, because it was a class-to-class basis.
Students learned about the changes the summer before the school year and had mixed opinions. Some students think it might be a nice break.
“This is to benefit us, not to harm us,” said Piper Hevler, a senior at Vallivue High School. “We are here to be educated and this is a way to get us more educated. Why not take a chance.”
But, Hevler also said she thinks other students are upset, and she doesn’t think taking phones away will train students to have self-responsibility.
“For us being seniors, there’s a lot of pushback,” Hevler said. “Like we are about to be 18 and go to college.”
Some parents are also upset about the policy. Rita Bishop said she understands the reasoning behind it, but is worried about how she will get ahold of their students while they are at school.