Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The new school year brought a new cell-phone use policy for seventh and eighth-graders at Colfax Junior-Senior High School.
Students now are not allowed to bring cell phones to classrooms, use them between classes or in the cafeteria during lunch.
The policy extends one already in place at Jennings Elementary.
“We had a lot of phone infractions in the seventh grade last year,” Colfax Principal Carrie Lipe said.
At the end of the 2017-18 school year, junior high teachers took a survey and all recommended the new policy.
Last year, the junior high rules were the same as for high school. Students were required to put phones in numbered pockets at the start of class. They were allowed to carry them in hallways, at lockers, at lunch or elsewhere.
“Back in the day, it used to be passing notes, now it’s that times a thousand, times a million,” Lipe said.
The new policy prohibits junior high students from being seen with a phone in the halls.
The new policy grew out of training that teachers attended the past two years at ESD 101 in Spokane. The national program is called Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS).
“The (junior high kids) are calmer during lunch,” said Lipe of the change this year. “Now they’re talking to each other. They’ve been great. We’ve had no pushback from them. It was, yeah, this is probably good for us.”
At lunchtime, Lipe said more kids now clear out of the cafeteria after eating and go to the gym, the two places they are permitted to be during lunch period.
“The past five years the phone has gotten a lot different. Youtube had developed, Reddit, Snapchat has developed,” said Lipe.
“Now there’s so much more that kids can get into. As social media has changed, so has our policy. Teaching professional cellphone etiquette – to know how to use their phone appropriately. We realized we needed to teach it.”
The change comes at a time when more computer technology has been brought into the school.
In the past three years, the district has added more Computers on Wheels. Teachers sign up to use a cart of up to 30 Chromebook laptops. The district now has six of the carts available.
Lipe and staff talk about “digital sustainability.”
“How do we help people use technology in a productive way,” Lipe explained.
Phone use and digital ethics will be a topic in Bulldog Tales – the series each Wednesday in which students meet with their advisors as a group.
“It’s a sign of respect to the students,” said Lipe. “We need them focused in class.”
On Sept. 10 at the school board meeting, Superintendent Jerry Pugh noted positive feedback on the junior high phone policy.
“Kids connecting with each other at lunch instead of doing that,” Pugh said.
For high school students, cell-phones are allowed before and after school, between classes and lunch.
“We’re excited, our staff has been working hard to get on the same page together to create the climate we want for our kids,” Lipe said.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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