By Blake Haas
CLINTON – There’s a lot of debate on if cell phones should be allowed in the classroom, but one central Illinois Superintendent is making his stance clear.
Clinton Superintendent Curt Nettles and Clinton Junior High School Principal Jim Peck decided to ban cell phones in junior high, citing distraction issues.
“It’s just become very apparent that having the cell phone, smartphone, in hand, in a pocket all day long has become a distraction,” Nettles said on the Afternoon Show. “We need to kind of scale back on this so that we make sure we have the kid’s undivided attention as much as we can. And then we also eliminate some problems that can occur because kids can have access to their cell phones all the time.”
According to Nettles, the district has a stationary phone in each classroom if the class needs it for an emergency. Additionally, Nettles said the district uses Ipads for learning purposes, eliminating the need for a phone.
“There’s never a time really when a student is in a situation where they would have to have a cellphone to do that. And I understand that some folks might want to make an argument that there could be that 1 and 1 million chance or 1 in 100 chance where the cell phone would come in handy, but we could argue points like that all day long.
If there is an emergency situation, there are all kinds of avenues for staff members and students to be contacting emergency services or the office to get help.”
The new rules take effect next school year.
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
