LPS has now restricted our ability to use our phones at any time of the day (unless a teacher allows us to) including at lunch. This undermines the trust between student and teacher as well as disparages the leadership that LPS supposedly teaches its students to espouse. This new rule being implemented in order to “encourage talking” also completely flies in the face of many incidents at lunch with 7th and 8th graders where they were deemed too loud and had to have multiple silent lunches as consequence. Not allowing phones during lunch gives children no outlet to unwind and take a break from the constant engagement of school and classmates, and forcing conversation will only increase volume levels that were apparently a huge problem to administration last year.

This petition takes no opinion on the prohibition of phones in classrooms and hallways.