Reverse the cell phone ban! This ban has a variety of issues that cause safety, and health concerns.

• In the likely event of an emergency (Shooting/Lockdown), students will not have access to their devices. In this case, students cannot reach their worried guardians. Realistically, most students will not attend designated meetup places but rather will go somewhere else. They will have no way to be accounted for or contacted, and this is so dangerous.
• The school wants to limit communication only to student’s school email or school phone. If a student wants to reach someone, they will have to have their personal business on a site where school administrators have access to all of their messages. This takes away the privacy of students/parents/and others. 
• Teachers are NOT following these same rules, saying since they are adults. Differently, our school has students over the adult age of 18 and they are not exempt from this policy.
• Phones can be used/are used as educational devices as well. Most students send emails to their teachers  from their phones and use classroom from their phone. It’s possible to turn in scans of work on phones and also to record videos which many classes require. The calculator app, google doc app, and google drive app are constantly in use on students cell phones.
• Students who have NOT had problems with phone use are being punished.
• There is NO data to prove that OUR school has had negative uses of phones.
• This is a controversial topic, which should be up to parents about if they want their kids to participate, NOT the school.
• Phones are used to coordinate rides home for underclassmen and all of these plans can’t be made last minute after school hours. Especially students that have two homes will find this difficult as it’s not always easy to coordinate who is picking you up.
• Teachers can alternatively discontinue use of phones in their classrooms while continuing to allow phone use between periods, lunch, and study hall.
• There are far more issues that should be getting attention than cell phone policy, and this is what they chose to strictly enforce instead, threatening detentions, and suspensions. 
• At the beginning of the year, students use their phone to see their schedules and find their classes with convenience. Incoming freshmen especially would find this helpful, where they can also text classmates for help where to go.
• Banning personal devices claiming they make someone feel lesser if they don't have a better model is insane. People should not be getting punished for bringing better devices then what the school provides. 
• The school provided Chromebooks are very slow at times, and a lot of software doesn't reach the updates of the versions that can be reached from iPhones, and Macbooks. This is true for some of the software the school asks us to use, such as WeVideo. 
• Students with anxiety and depression DO NOT want to talk during a panic attack in the lobby (an open space with people constantly travelling through). They want the comfort of being able to find a place to call or text their parents securely and privately.
• Most data regarding cell phones and mental health are based on spending time on devices at home. Students aren’t using phones enough at school for the negative effects.
• Neighboring schools such as Hamilton-Wenham and Masco do not have such a ban, and it hasn’t been proven effective. A ban to this extent is not something other schools feel is necessary.
• Many students devices range in the 300-1000$ range, and many students, parents, and guardians do not feel comfortable putting expensive devices under the responsibility of the school, whether locked in a cabinet or not.
• Students being dismissed last minute or from the nurse would have to go back to their first period class to retrieve their phones and by doing this they are being a distraction to the current class period, and if sick, that’s causing more spread of germs.
• Phones are one of the “dirtiest” personal belongings that students have. Millions of germs and bacteria travel on them a day. Putting all of these devices in one area is a good way to start more sickness.
• It’s much more arguable that there is a greater amount of anxiety that comes from homework and tests at school rather than use of phones at school. 
• Teachers are constantly asking students to bring out their phones for various things. When our school provided chromebooks are having issues, we join class games on our phone. This is very common for Quizlet, Kahoot, Gimkit, etc. This is due to insufficient provided materials that they need us to use personal ones.