The district’s cell phone policy has been the same for years, but has always been loosely enforced. This year they’re making a point of heavily enforcing it, and putting it into full effect. The first week there will be a grace period, but after Sept. 8 the policy will be active in its entirety.

The full policy can be viewed here: escpolicycell and in a recent e-mail from the new principal, David Friedle, but one of its main impacts will be that students will not be allowed to have their phones out or turned on at all from the first to last bell except for lunch, including during advisory and between classes in the hallway. If they do, then their phones will be immediately taken to the office, where a parent or guardian will need to pick it up to retrieve the phone.

There will be a few exceptions to this rule, one of which being that you’ll be allowed to send your family a “short text message” during lock down or other emergencies to tell them you’re safe.

Friedle recently sent out an e-mail to students calling this the new “Off & Away” policy. In the e-mail, he listed several of the reasons for this new policy, including improved focus, stronger connections, healthier balance and school safety.

Some teachers had already implemented similar policies last year, with a few switching to having phone cubbies that you need to put your phone in at your class, but other teachers were letting students use their phones in class with the hope that they wouldn’t use it as a distraction, but rather as an educational device.

While there are a lot of points to make whether you are against or for this new policy, I think most teachers and students alike can agree that when used correctly, phones can be tools to help you in school.

Obviously, the reason this policy is being put into place is due to the fact that so many students haven’t been using them correctly, but just because it was made with them in mind doesn’t mean it won’t also harm the students who use their phones responsibly.