Rave reviews across the district on the new Putnam County Schools mobile device policy during the first full school week.
Director of Schools Corby King said he visited schools across the district all week. He said the results of removing cell phones from the school day have been overly positive. King said both principals and students have commented on how great the week has been.
“I talked to [Principal Justin Campbell] at Upperman,” King said. “And he said it was the best day he had experienced in a high school setting as a teacher or administrator, the first day we had phones in cases. And he said that again later this week.”
King said the students were walking the halls with their heads up and talking to each other. King said he overheard student conversations on the subject, and the kids described the changes as no big deal.
“The cafeteria is a little bit louder at lunch, but it’s a good loud,” King said. “It’s the students talking to each other and not just scrolling.”
In addition to added conversation, King said students were not bumping into each other or running into things since they were not looking down at their phones.
King said other administrators he has talked to have said the change is overly positive, and he hopes to see the new policy’s success continue.
“That’s what we hope to accomplish with this, is give our students a break, get them engaged, more academically focused and talking to each other,” King said. “And this week’s been a good week.”
The changes to the mobile device policy for the Putnam County School System differed from many Upper Cumberland districts. The schools purchased the clear, transparent, magnetic-locking NuGerm phone cases over the summer.
Students have been required to lock phones and mobile devices in these cases for the entire school day. They are able to unlock the case magnetically when the school day ends.
