Ipswich High School has experienced some significant changes throughout the past year. New rules introduced at the end of last year were put into effect by the school committee and our teachers, who intended to make a safer school environment and create a stronger community. While many teachers and parents agree with the new regulations, the question remains: how do the students feel about it?
How our school has changed: Ever since the hall passes became a rule last year, only one student is allowed out of the classroom at a time, and our teachers must fill out and sign the pass. The passes are color-coded depending on where our class is within the building, so teachers know if we are too far from our classes. When we arrive back into the class, we are supposed to give the pass back to our teacher. If a student is found wandering the halls without a pass, they are given a detention. Our school vice principal says in an article, “There was a lot of what felt like chaos in the building, with students being in the wrong places; we thought we needed to tighten things up to hold students more accountable for their whereabouts and to be mindful of the amount of time they are spending out of classes.”
Next came the personal device rule, which was implemented at the beginning of this school year. Every morning, unless there is a medical exemption, students must turn in their phones to their first period class teachers, where it is then placed in a wooden phone holder and locked up in a closet. If the student chooses they want to leave their phone at home instead of turning it in, they can be put onto a list which their parents have to sign, saying that they leave their phones at home everyday. If the student claims they do not have a cellphone with them, but they are not on the list, they must go to the office and the principal/vice principal gives a call home to confirm that the student did not bring their phone to school. At the end of the day, students have to go back to their first period class to pick up their phone. If someone is caught with a phone or personal device the first time, the phone stays in main office until parent picks it up, the second time a parent picks up phone from main office and student serves office detention, third offense is more discipline, including, but not limited to: detentions, suspensions (ISS & OSS loss of privileges, extra curricular programs, events or athletics)
References: In an article titled “New IHS hall pass system solves initial problems, causes more for students” by Ella Niederhelman, she interviews students at IHS asking them how they feel about the hall passes. She starts off the Local News article by stating that “many high school students believe the school administration is ‘treating us like prisoners’ by implementing a new hall pass system”. She adds that according to school principal and vice principal, Mr. Mitchell and Ms. Collura, about 10% of the school (50 students) were “causing the majority of the difficulties, with students missing instructional time”, which made some students believe that not everyone should be punished just because of a certain group of peoples actions. Mr. Mitchell doesn’t agree that only certain students should receive the rules because: “you can’t have special rules for 10% of the population. You have got to apply the rules to everybody.”
In another article by Ella Niederhelman, called “Cell phone ban leaving students unsure of what next year brings“, she talks about the cell phone ban at IHS, and goes into detail about the specifics of the new rule. Shortly after, she includes quotes from students about how they feel about the rule. Graduates and other students included in the article, talk about how they feel like the phone rule was a “massive step in the wrong direction” and that the school has more things to worry about then banning phones. It is also mentioned how it can be very inconvenient for both students and teachers, but will definitely help in the long run with “social interactions” and “more attentive listening”.
Interviews:
FRESHMAN: First, I interviewed Kaydyn Landry, to get a freshman’s perspective on the rules. When I asked about how it was transitioning into high school and having less freedom now than there was in middle school, she talked about how the best part of highschool was the freedom and independence that comes along with it, but this year those privileges were taken. When I mentioned the new phone restrictions, she explained how its disappointing not being able to have the same privileges that upperclassmen had in previous years. Lastly, I asked her to share her opinion on if our school has changed negatively or positively since the rules were in place, she said the rules are not 100% working and that “not all students are going to listen to the rules, and people still keep their phones on them.”
SOPHOMORES: Next, I interviewed Sophie Flowers and Kimora Ngem to get their opinions on the new rules at IHS. Sophie, without hesitation, discussed that “the new rules are very unfair, annoying, and inconvenient” she also brought up that “dealing with the passes are extremely annoying”. Kimora agreed with Sophie, stating that during their freshman year, they didn’t need hall passes to walk around freely. They also mentioned the cellphone rule, saying “not having our phones makes us feel unsafe, and then getting them at the end of the day is very inconvenient”. They agreed that this year has gone worse than last year, generally due to the stricter rules: “these rules don’t make our school a better or safer place, they in fact make it more dangerous during emergencies”, Sophie said “If there was an emergency, there would be no way to call and the only way to contact family would be by email on our chromebook, which would take a million years to load up into. It also violates our privacy policy whenever we email our parents or friends because the school can access our emails.”
JUNIORS: Next I interviewed Matthew Gouzie, asking him his thoughts about the regulations: “I think it’s stupid. I think it’s so dumb.” When I asked if he believes the rules make our school a better place, he explains how he thought at first the phone rule would be beneficial towards the kids and their academic learning opportunities; however, he added “but now that I realized I can’t watch instagram reels in class I don’t know how I am going to get through this school year.” Matthew also speaks on how he thinks the passes are irrelevant; he describes them as unnecessary and says “the hall passes are from Ohio 💀💀”. Finally, he also mentioned that he thinks the students shouldn’t be disciplined for being in the wrong r-block when they didn’t mean to be.
SENIORS: Lastly, I interviewed Aliviana Gauthier and asked whether she thinks the school changed for the better or for the worse since our freshman year: “I feel that our school has changed for the worse and better. In my opinion, I don’t think the taking away devices made much sense especially because we have had them all throughout high school, and for our senior year we don’t” she explained with disappointment, “but I also get their reasoning on why; I just think they should’ve heard from the students more and maybe have given them more a say.” Last I asked her if she wishes that anything was back to how it used to normally be, before the rules: “I do and I don’t. Everything was fine before, but now that I have adjusted to the changes and also have senior privilege, I don’t mind it too much because everything is almost the same for me.”
Conclusion: In conclusion, the recent changes that IHS has undergone throughout the past year have caused a mix of opinions for the students. While some try to see the good intentions with the rules, they feel as if their voices were not heard, and now there’s discipline being thrown around. So, though most teachers and parents agree with the new regulations; now we know how students feel.
