In the BLA community, there is a problem. The problem is students have their phones taken from them without permission and there is no room for the students to explain or fight back against the staff. 

Part of the reason I am a member of this group is because I believe we share the value of privacy. 

The problem that is happening in my community is violating this value by taking our phones, which are our personal property, without permission. The BLA students don't feel like we have any control over our own belongings, which is not fair.

Our community says it values justice but what is happening goes against that value because when we get our phones taken, there are no exceptions and no room to explain why we had our phones out. It’s unfair because some people are required by their families to answer texts. Something important and dangerous could have been happening that a student could have needed to answer but there would still be no exceptions.

The fact that this unfair treatment and refusal to listen to explanations is happening in my community is a problem. This problem matters to me because the students in the BLA community deserve to have some power over when our devices get taken. 

We, the undersigned, ask that you address this problem by actually listening to the student’s reasoning for having their phones out. Some students have their phones out for very important reasons and taking the phones with no way to fight back is unjust. It is also unfair in the first place to take student’s phones as they belong to us, so BLA administrators shouldn't have such a large power over phones that don't belong to them. 

We respectfully demand that instead of taking our phones with no room for explanation, the administration hears what the students have their phone out for and decide from there if it's appropriate to take. This policy would relieve stress on students who need to use their phone for something important, as well as have the students feel like the BLA community is being more fair with decisions and allowing their students more privacy. There would be more trust between students and teachers, students could ask to use their phones and teachers would allow them if deemed appropriate.

People have the right to monitor their community to make sure it is doing its job, and to use their voice to speak out if it isn’t.

This solution will help us live up to the idea that people have the right to monitor their community, and speak up against injustices. The looser phone policy will allow a voice for students in BLA to advocate in our shared community for what we think is fair and simultaneously help students feel reassured that the BLA admin understands that we deserve privacy just as anyone else does.

The idea that everyone in a community has the power to speak up against injustice has encouraged me to use my voice to compel our community to change the BLA