Our school has focused on enforcing new attendance and phone policies these past two years. Every morning, students can now only enter through two doors of our school after 7:50 am. Entering through the cafeteria and side doors is no longer allowed. You now have to show your StudentVUE or student ID when entering the building. However, you are told to put your phone away immediately when you enter, despite just using it to show your ID to get in. As you walk to class, an administrator is there telling everyone to get to class. They say that you might be hallswept, which means you are locked out of the classroom, and have to wait in line to get a pass to class. During the school day, administrators and security guards are watching for students who are on their phones, and take them if they see it.

Why has our school suddenly decided to crackdown on all these new things?

“Get to class! Get to class! You’re gonna be hallswept! Put your phone away!” is the standard for what we hear every morning now. But how effective is this enforcement of the new policies using these tactics?

The teachers at our school are amazing–they are always willing to help you with an assignment or are there to talk about something. Our school’s counselors are some of the most hardworking, dedicated people ever. We have a really passionate, amazing student body, teachers and administration.

However, according to APS academic data, chronic absenteeism increased by about 80% after the return to in-person school compared to pre-COVID levels. To combat this, our school has started to implement a slew of new policies to help students be more focused and improve attendance.

Because of the new policies, more specifically the way they are enforcing these rules, a more negative culture has formed in our school. While seemingly helpful and necessary, they are not actually solving the problem–students are not more likely to go to class because someone with a megaphone is yelling at them to do it. To solve absenteeism problems, students need to want to go to class, not just be told to go to class. Some of the enforcement of the new policies is unlikely to actually make a difference.

The intentions behind our administrators are well mannered in enforcing new school policies. However, our school needs to create a more positive atmosphere that involves more personal connections rather than the harsh tactics. If there is a more positive environment, students will be more focused, motivated and genuinely want to come to class.

Our school has already changed its phone enforcement to give students time to put their phone away after using it to show their StudentVUE when entering. This change came when the administration realized that the current enforcement was not working. Our school is willing to listen to what is seen as effective and what is unnecessary. We should try to create a more positive environment at our school where we don’t need to be yelled at to do the right thing.