Hundreds of high school students appeared to defy the odds in Orange on Monday, pulling through day one amid an all-new mobile phone policy.
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Lockable phone pouches were distributed to around 650 students at Canobolas Rural Technology High School on October 9, effectively putting mobile phones in individual sin bins from 9am to 3.15pm during school hours.
Principal of the school, Brett Blaker likened the several months leading up to the official ban to a similar anticipation with mask-wearing during the pandemic.
Fingers crossed an entire high school cohort would (harmoniously) conform to yet another new ruling, Mr Blaker says it was a pretty peaceful day.
"We went through the same kind of concerns during COVID, thinking it was going to be a nightmare with the mandate of getting nearly 700 kids to wear a mask every day, but generally speaking, they were pretty compliant with the new phone policy," he said.
"I was always hopeful it would be the same in that aspect and so far, so good."
Canobolas had allies in Orange High School and Molong Central School, with all three high schools implementing the same phone policy and tools across the board.
Similar to wetsuit garments, the pouches are made of a synthetic neoprene rubber which also blocks connectivity.
Magnetically-sealed during the restriction period, the pouches automatically lock once closed and require a separate device - located in 12 locked boxes around the school - with a special magnet to unlock them at the end of each day.
"If the kids are still on their phones at 8.30am before roll call, we're not going to make a big fuss about that," Mr Blaker said.
"But from 9am it's basically out of sight, out of mind until 3.15pm and now we've got the provisions in place, it means if we [teachers] see a mobile phone out, we can act on the new consequences around that."
A 'four step level' policy, the fallout of breaking the new rules includes warnings and parental notification.
In its peak ruling stages, ongoing suspension periods are then introduced if a student continues not complying with the policy.
I imagine the first three-to-four weeks will be a bit of a grind, but the overall response has been positive and I'm confident we'll stay on top of it.
- Canobolas Rural Technology High School principal, Brett Blaker on all-new Mobile Phone Policy.
While it may seem severe to some, the crux of it all is for the benefit of all students in improving their school environment.
"They're [phones are] hugely significant distractions from learning, so we're removing those 'temptations' of constant phone-checking, but we're also taking away another layer of threat surrounding incidents as well," the principal said.
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"We've also had a huge buy-in response from parents supporting this policy as well and sure, some [students] might exploit the system, but we're giving them the benefit of the doubt to start with.
"I imagine the first three-to-four weeks will be a bit of a grind, but the overall response has been positive and I'm confident we'll stay on top of it."
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