OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen
Fredonia High School Principal Darrin Paschke stated there has been “strong compliance” from Fredonia students and staff regarding the District’s no cell phone policy.
Both Fredonia and Dunkirk school districts had similar plans for addressing cell phone distractions for their students. But so far this year, things appear to have gone much smoother at Fredonia.
Both schools began the year with plans to implement Yondr pouches to lock away cell phones for the entire school day. Dunkirk rolled out the procedures on Sept. 16, and since doing so, there have been incidents of vandalism and misbehavior.
Fredonia High School Principal Darrin Paschke was told that Dunkirk received “a great deal of pushback from their students and many destroyed bags.”
Fredonia, however, has waited to implement the Yondr pouches because the students have responded so well without them. With few exceptions since school began more than six weeks ago, Fredonia’s students have followed the rules and kept their phones in their lockers throughout the day.
Paschke characterized the Fredonia student body’s response as “strong compliance.” He stated that student surveys indicated 90% compliance with the current procedures. Only four incidents of students refusing to comply have been recorded since school began. All other violations have been corrected immediately without incident.
Student surveys also showed that 80% of students believe that implementing the Yondr pouches would result in a negative impact, and 86% of respondents stated they do not want to ever implement Yondr pouches.
SIf things are not broken, why fix it?
Paschke was told by Dunkirk High School Principal Josh Tedone, “If you are experiencing strong compliance right now, I would not recommend using these bags. The kids hate them. They are destroying them regularly.”
Paschke feels students and parents are comforted by the ability to access cell phones if needed in case of an emergency, rather than having their own personal property restricted from them with a lock that requires a staff member to unlock.
Paschke also noted the staff has been pleased with the procedure this year, with only three teachers responding that they were somewhat dissatisfied by the results. “Everybody was either satisfied or very satisfied except for three,” Paschke said.
Students have a landline available at school to use if necessary. The District is also evaluating the implementation of a software program that would allow parents/guardians to contact their student through their computer when appropriate.
One of the goals of the District in restricting cell phones was to limit distractions and interruption to students during the day. Paschke believes that has happened. Since restricting cell phones, Fredonia has seen socialization increase and group work participation has improved.
“I’m not so naive to believe that there aren’t more kids out there with their phones … but we’re not really seeing it,” Paschke said. “… I couldn’t have asked for a better response.”
Another major driving force behind restricting cell phone use during the day was the focus on improving the mental health of students who are negatively impacted by social media and cyber bullying. Paschke believes the students’ mental health has benefited from avoiding social media throughout the day because even though hurtful behavior online still exists, it is out of sight and out of mind during the school day.
“The kids that are being bullied, for whatever reason, they can’t stop looking. They want to know, even though it’s hurtful to them,” Paschke said. “… We aren’t seeing that this year. Is it happening outside of school? Oh yeah, it is. I can’t fix that, but we have six-and-a-half hours every day where they are not burdened by that, at least. Maybe there is a build-up of bad things on their phone when they pick it up at the end of the day, but at least during the school day, they are not being bothered with it.”
If compliance becomes an issue down the road, the District still might decide to move to the Yondr pouches in the future. But for now, Fredonia is leaving it up to its students to keep up the good work.
“I’m really proud of our students and staff for maintaining a high level of compliance and positive culture within the school,” Paschke said.