High school implements new cell phone rules

If you have been inside Hot Springs County High School recently you may have noticed signs in the commons area that read “Cell Phone Free Zone” and wondered what was going on.

According to Principal Breez Daniels, concerns from parents during the first semester were that students were using their cell phones too much at school and they were concerned the phone use was distracting students from learning.

The biggest worry for parents, however, was bullying via cell phone text messages and social media apps throughout the school day.

With that in mind, staff began researching and students read several articles in December that described the social anxiety and depression caused by cell phone use.

Results from two experiments indicate that even when people are successful at maintaining attention, like when they are consciously avoiding looking at their phones, the mere presence of the devices reduces available cognitive capacity.

In other words, just thinking about your cell phone without looking at it can create a drain on your brain that prevents you from being focused on tasks like schoolwork.

Smartphone owners interact with their phones an average of 85 times a day, including immediately upon waking up, just before going to sleep, and often, even in the middle of the night.

Adrian Ward, a cognitive psychologist and marketing professor at the University of Texas at Austin, has been studying the way smartphones and the Internet affect our thoughts and judgments for a decade. In his own work, as well as that of others, he has seen mounting evidence that using a smartphone, or even hearing one ring or vibrate, produces a welter of distractions that makes it harder to concentrate on a difficult problem or job. The division of attention impedes reasoning and performance.

This research has led to a revision in the cell phone policy at the school.

No longer will students be able to use their phones in class to surf the Internet. They cannot be messaging between classes. Students can no longer answer calls from parents or others or respond to text messages during class time.

Students must be in a designated cell phone zone in order to use their personal phones during the school day.

While this may seem like an inconvenience to some parents not to be able to message your student directly, parents are encouraged to call the school office and leave a message with the secretary.