With this new school year comes a new principal and with a new principal comes new rules. One of Principal Nicki Thompson’s target goals was to crack down on students’ cell phone usage during class. Thus, the policy change was enforced. Thompson wasn’t the only one who decided this, nor did it start this year. Admins have been arguing whether they should apply this rule. In the past few years, many schools around the country have been enforcing this rule, so it was no surprise Marshfield decided to start, too. Because of this policy, student’s phones would be left in pockets hanging on closet doors during class, and can only be used during lunch and in-between classes. 

As a kid who loves music, personally, I’m struggling with leaving my headphones at home. Some kids use music as a tool to focus on their work and to block out distractions. Without music I’m having trouble getting my work done while hearing the various noises around me. I don’t think these kids were considered before enforcing this policy. The ban was intended to prevent those who purposefully don’t do their work and instead play on their phones. The policy says that students can listen to music with wired earbuds on their computer, but popular music streaming sites like Spotify are blocked, and certain videos on youtube are also blocked without being explicit.

I understand why the ban was needed, but there should be loopholes, like repeat offenders being required to put their phones in the cubbies, and people that can be trusted being allowed to have them in their bags, or students with 504s having the choice to use headphones. In short, everything I said above was the old policy, which was far superior.