Cell phone policies in place at Coldwater, Quincy schools

Cell phones are in the pockets of many middle and high school students. Both Coldwater and Quincy schools have policies to keep them out of those pockets and in student lockers during class.

According to the handbooks of both Legg Middle School and Quincy Middle School, personal communication devices are to stay in the students’ lockers all day, including their lunch period.

Devices include smart watches, cell phones and tablets — any electronic communication device.

Brandon Suever, Quincy Middle School principal, said given the last few years, students especially need face-to-face interaction. Cell phones can facilitate behaviors not acceptable in the classroom and hallways.

Before the policy, students found ways around school filters and sometimes were taking pictures or videos of other students, “which never leads to anything good,” Suever said.

“Many students, especially in middle school, lack the self-regulation to successfully manage a cell phone,” he said. “They all have Chromebooks in school to do their work.”

Julie Slusher, Legg Middle School principal, said their policy also significantly reduced theft of the devices.

The Legg handbook states the devices are brought at student’s own risk. The school will not be held responsible for theft or loss.

Both Coldwater and Quincy high school handbooks allow students to use devices during lunch time as long as the use is appropriate. Steps of discipline are outlined in every handbook.

These policies are to help students to continue moving forward, engaged academically while reducing cheating or the isolation created when students always focus on a screen or wear headphones, states the Coldwater High School handbook.

So far, Bronson Community Schools has not added a cell phone policy to the handbook.

“Right now I would say our policy is teacher discretion, but there have been conversations about creating a policy that is more strict than what we currently have in place,” said Steve Wilson, Bronson superintendent. “We do have policies that restrict any mobile devices being used in certain areas of the school.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Cell phone policies in Branch County schools