Students, teachers adjust to new cell phone policy

Grace Ai | The Chronicle

A new school year is full of adjustments – this one more than most.

This year, many teachers at Mason High School (MHS) have made changes towards their cell phone policies in the classroom, often making them more strict. With a new Ohio law regarding phone usage in schools coming up next July, the high school has implemented a school-wide policy for phones that lets the teachers decide what their own students are to do with their phones.

German teacher Melissa Jurewicz is one who has made these changes. In past years, she said she didn’t have an official policy in the class, mostly asking students to put away their phones if they were distracted. Now, she uses boxes at each table group to store phones, called the “handy haus”.

“I wasn’t sure what method I wanted, because some teachers use the phone pockets on the walls,” Jurewicz said. “But this way I feel like I’ve got just one small group of phones that I’m worried about at a time in a box, versus the entire class’ phones up there on the [wall]. I feel like it’s the best thing I ever did.”

Similar to Jurewicz, statistics teacher Steve Mays has made some changes to his policy. Before, he would let students keep their phones, only asking them to put it away if they were off task.

“My phone policy is about halfway in between never using it and getting to use it all the time,” Mays said. “I’ve got boxes. [We] put the phones in the boxes, and we put the boxes on the back counter, so there’s not even that temptation to reach for it, even though it’s inside of a box.”

Despite putting phones in the box most days, Mays said that there are exceptions to this rule.

“There are going to be times throughout the school year where I’m like, ‘it’s okay to have your phone when you’re working independently,’” Mays said. “[But] when we’re doing something as a class where everybody needs to be engaged, it’s a no-phone policy.”

Mays said there have been many reasons why many teachers have chosen to take stricter measures, a common reason being students’ level of focus.

“Some people have phones as low as first and second grade, which I think is kind of crazy,” Mays said. “They’ve had those devices on them [for so long], and it becomes second nature to them.” 

Mays said that students having phones ingrained in their lives from such a young age can cause them to be so connected to their phones that it can be distracting in class.

“It has become a part of them – as soon as they feel that buzz in their pocket, as soon as they see the notification, the light goes off immediately,” Mays said. “It’s just instinctive: they grab it, and they start to look.”

According to Jurewicz, phones have also created other problems in class. Using new phone policies can be a way to combat the effects of students having phones at school.

“What really got to me was just that I’ve had a handful of kids that don’t even realize just how addicted to their phones they are,” Jurewicz said. “There’s not that many, but there’s enough, and the correlation between their grades, their performances, and whether or not they even had friends in the class seemed to match the fact that they were on their phones a lot.”

Because of this, Mays said constantly telling students to put their phones away wasn’t enough. Jurewicz agrees with Mays and said that phones have a negative impact on learning.

“Imagine if you were trying to sleep, and every couple minutes your alarm kept going off and waking you up,” Jurewicz said. “That’s what’s happening in class. You’re not getting the most that you can get out of being there, sort of like a constant break in concentration.”

Junior Lucy Bremer said many of her classes have completely restricted phones this year. Due to this new policy, she said students are seeing impacts on their overall phone usage. 

“I wouldn’t say I’m terribly addicted to my phone, but my screen time is definitely a little above average,” Bremer said. “So far today, it’s one hour and 26 minutes. The phone policy changed my screen time quite a bit.”

Bremer said that though it can be difficult to cut out phone usage after depending on them for so long, it can be helpful to distance from phones for learning purposes.

“Just in general, [students] have definitely formed a dependence on them, just from being born into a generation of technology,” she said. “But I think a healthy balance between phones and school is beneficial to both teachers and students.”

Aditi Varman | The Chronicle

After years as a Mason High School (MHS) Social Studies teacher, Bud Strudthoff is building a classroom full of connection, hardwork and tons of laughter in his new role as a special educator.

Strudthoff has taught for 17 years in various classroom settings such as American Government, Economics and World History. Now, Strudthoff has decided to continue as a special education teacher at MHS. Strudthoff said that even early into the school year, he is excited that his students have already filled the classroom with good energy.

“My students encourage me to be myself, everybody is on board with having fun and we all feel safe in the classroom,” Strudthoff said. “They appreciate my silliness, sarcasm, and humor, which makes our classroom environment and my job so exciting.”

Having already taught at MHS, Strudthoff is familiar with the Mason school district’s three big rock theories: culture, inclusive excellence, and personalized learning. Strudthoff said these key concepts play a big role in his classroom, making every student feel safe and empowered with a flexible learning environment. 

“The district is so big on inclusive excellence, and this is a population of students that I want to make sure gets brought into that fold as well, and is not overlooked,” Strudthoff said. 

Strudthoff’s classroom is a very dynamic environment, with teachers and teaching assistants working to support students with diverse learning needs. Strudthoff said his classroom requires constant movement and attention between one-on-one support, small group activities and sensory breaks.

“My role is very reactive to students’ needs at each moment. You might have a game plan for the day, and five minutes later it’s completely different, and you have to pivot and do something else,” Strudthoff said. “You are constantly assessing ‘how I am going to adapt to this student’s situation?’.”

This year, Strudthoff said he aims to connect with each student on a deeper level. Morgan Massa, a junior at MHS, is a student in Strudthoff’s classroom. Massa said she feels comfortable in the classroom and likes interacting with students through activities in class. 

“Our class is really fun. I like coming to school and talking with everyone. We play so many games like board games and talking games, or we take breaks and go on walks in the hall,” Massa said.

Massa said she recognizes how Strudthoff has adapted to their classroom. His teaching methods and tactics have become tailored to this group of students, allowing him to form strong connections with each student.

“We normally are in little groups and I don’t feel scared to ask questions in class or talk to my teacher,” Massa said. “My teacher is very funny and nice, and talks with us a lot. I like coming to class and seeing everybody.”

As the students get more comfortable with Strudthoff, Lynne Carlisle, a teaching assistant at Mason, said the classroom’s energy has changed since he became a part of the team, and the community in class is stronger than ever. 

“I think Mr. Strudthoff has adapted to the classroom environment amazingly, he is just wonderful with the kids, he has been wonderful with the assistants, and he’s just a great guy to work with,” Carlisle said.

Strudthoff continues to make progress in learning about his students and fellow teachers daily. Carlisle said she loves to see his hard work and his success should be recognized. 

“This job is not an easy one to do. There is always so much to do. It’s not meant for everybody, but Strudthoff fits right in. The kids love him and he is super engaging for them, and as a staff member, I am so grateful to be able to work with him this year,” Carlisle said.

As he continues through the school year, the rhythm of the new classroom changes every day, but  Strudthoff said he hopes to help give his students the experience and sense of community they deserve to partake in at Mason. With the help of his supportive students, Strudthoff is confident in what this school year will bring.

“The constant collaboration of my job can be challenging, but extremely rewarding,” Strudthoff said. “Seeing how the students have grown and the progress they have made along with me is, by far, the best part of this whole thing.”