This past Monday, February 27th, students all throughout Boro participated in a cell phone circle. After spending an hour in first block, all classes got in a circle with their period one class to have a discussion. The teacher then led the discussion that followed. The conversation included a series of questions about cellphone usage, ranging from what’s your favorite app to what consequences you think should be enforced if someone breaks the cell phone policy. Everyone in the circle was allowed to answer, but you could pass if you wanted. Overall, the discussion lasted for about thirty minutes.

The discussion was held because cellphone usage throughout the school is getting out of hand. The teachers hoped that by having an inclusive conversation about how we feel about our phones, we would believe they were taking our feelings about this topic into consideration. This would, in turn, make us more willing to follow the cell phone policy. However, this is not what I observed. During the discussion I participated in, most of the students were not truthful with their answers. For example, one of the questions was how do you feel when you don’t have your cell phone with you? As we went around the circle, almost everyone said they felt fine without it. Furthermore, after seeing some of my friends later in the day they reported the same thing happened. However, we all know the vast majority would be bored and freaking out if we did not have our phones right next to us. Nevertheless, we all stuck with the simple answer because none of us felt like being open with our opinions. Moreover, when asked what consequences should be enforced for breaking the cell phone policy, many kids said they should be warned. However, I’m sure we can all imagine that is not what many were thinking.

The point I’m trying to make is that the overall idea behind the cell phone circle was good, but the way we all executed it was not. We had the opportunity to have an open conversation about something we are all very passionate about, and we did not take that opportunity. Next time, I think a way to get students to be more open is to have them fill out an anonymous google form, so they don’t feel nervous about others hearing their answers. I think this would result in a much more honest conversation about cell phone usage.