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Whittier Miscellany APRIL 2018 • WILMINGTON FRIENDS SCHOOL’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER • WILMINGTON, DELAWARE
Cell phones: do we really need them in school? This past month, two members of the junior class, Connor Miller ’19 and Tristan Pantano ’19 debated the necessity of the use of cell phones, both in and out of school. This was a debate organized by the World Affairs Club, which has arranged for many of these lunch-time debates over current world and school topics in the past few months. The World Affairs debates always surround an issue of current events, and are often focused on a controversial topic. Miller argued that cell phones are not more beneficial for society than they are harmful and that we should limit our use of them, while Pantano argued the opposite, giving examples in which mobile devices have given users safety and protection. While Tristan ultimately won, it was a lively debate in which both students made quality points and refutations. Pantato shared his thoughts on the debate: “I think the debate went well. It was a lot harder than I imagined it would be. Connor had really strong arguments and was very confident speaking and very confident in his arguments. He had me backed against the wall for most of the debate, was clearly more prepared than me, and probably should have won.” He also added: “My main arguments were that cell phones keep us safe, keep us connected, create jobs, and are very convenient.” The debate was attended by the majority of the upper school student body, and the teachers and students had a say in who won by popular vote. Though many World Affairs debates are seen as centered around global issues, this particular time, the two students debating chose focus on cell phones and mobile devices here at school, and in students’ lives. As many are aware, here at Wilmington Friends, students
are allowed to have their cell phones on them, but not out in the classroom without permission from a teacher. Additionally, though it pertains more towards laptops, the technology policy in the student handbook states: “The Wilmington Friends’ technology program seeks to empower you to be an ethical, independent, and innovative user of technology throughout your
should be allowed to be used during class because they can be very distracting for many people. We should definitely be allowed to use them during break and in between classes because they are not a disturbance at those times,” commented Kate Saber ’20. “I think there’s no reason that the school should have power over what websites we go to on our phones because it’s our property. I understand it on the computers though so I think they should make the guest wifi block-free and block inappropriate sites on the student wifi,” shared Joey Mullen ’19. “It’s good that we can have [phones] with us, but some people rely on them way too much,” remarked Carson Davis-Tinnell ’19. Zareef Khan ’19 stated, “I think the cell phone policy is good as it is, as it doesn’t encroach on students’ freedoms to use phones a lot of times, but I think teachers should have the same rules with how they approach cell phones in class, and how they enforce the policy is handled just to make sure there isn’t any major variance with how punishments for improper cell phone use occur. While I don’t really know the cell phone policy, teachers usually don’t care much if I’m on my phone at any point, so whatever the rules are now is fine by me.” As the students’ input shows, most people are very happy with the cell phone policy as it is, and wouldn’t suggest much improvement, though the consistency of rules does seem to be a bit flawed. Be sure to congratulate both Tristan and Connor on their great debate, and try to be aware of your own use of mobile devices -- how much do you really need them? Photo by Evie Kortanek
Ellie Bradley ’19 News Writer
WFS Student uses both phone and computer simultaneously
life. Our core values, Interpersonal Respect/Policy on Harassment and Conduct and rules for routine behavior encourage students, faculty, and administrative personnel to exhibit personal integrity, responsibility to themselves and others, and respect for cultural and individual differences in all interactions. These same principles of behavior inform our decisions to use technology ethically and appropriately.” To better discover how this is received by students, several have been willing to share their feelings on the policy: “I think we should be able to have them on us for several personal reasons, but I don’t think they