Some Green Country school districts are cracking down on their cell phone policies this upcoming academic year.
Henryetta and Preston Public Schools posted the update on social media, with class just around the corner.
Henryetta’s online post says, “cell phones must be turned off and stored in lockers during class. Students will be allowed to have phones before and after school and during lunch.”
Preston Public Schools says, “sell phones must be turned off and stored during the entirety of the school day. This applies to all Preston Public School sites. They can turn them back on when they leave.”
Preston Elementary School principal Cassie Sharp says, “This has actually been our cell phone policy for as long as I can remember, but we’re just now really communicating it with the public and families, so we can enforce it more. We want to keep our kids very safe because they won’t have to worry about kids videoing them or taking pictures of them and posting to social media without their permission.”
She adds that this can hopefully prevent distractions in the classroom.
When FOX23 posted about the schools enforcing these policies, one parent, Ashley Chase, commented, “I will fight this tooth and nail. Kids need to be able to reach their parents.”
She adds, “given the world in which we live right now, my biggest concern is being able to check in on my kid and know where they’re at, at any time.”
Principal Sharp says she understands this concern; she says, “in a situation where they didn’t feel safe, they could power the phones up and get ahold of who they need to get ahold of.”
Anyone with any questions is asked to please reach out to their own school district. Tulsa Public Schools, Union, Owasso and Bixby ask that students not use their phones in the classroom, unless a teacher or staff instructs them to do so.
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