High school students and staff are adjusting to the changes made to the school year. Staff members are dealing with the reactions of students and parents regarding the new dual credit guidelines including flex and House Bill 1481 Texas phone ban.
“Dealing with the past couple of years and general data of students [who had flex and were able to leave in years past], there were students that weren’t getting their work done and taking care of business,” Principal Skylar Stagner said. “I have gotten a lot of complaints from parents in recent years. They did not like the fact that even if their child was in trouble at home, they were able to leave without knowing exactly where their child was. The safety of our students played a big factor in the changes.”
Students, like always, bring their own opinions to the table. Being forced to stay on campus on Fridays when they don’t have a college class has been a big adjustment. Many juniors were upset because they had their hearts set on having that rewarding off-campus lunch or quick nap. However, seniors were challenged a bit more with adapting to the new guidelines, as they know what that freedom feels like. The seniors had a taste of the experience, and many had a few thoughts about giving up that freedom.
“Instead of being free to do what we want, take a nap and enjoy our life, we now have to stay at school and do work,” senior Kaleb Glenn said. “Last year we had flex, but now we have forced mental labor. There is no reason for us to stay on campus. They say they want us to get better grades, but as the students who can take college classes, we already have the best grades. Instead of keeping us from enjoying life, they should focus on the students who aren’t taking the college classes.”
Guidelines set by the school board aren’t the only decisions that affect our day-to-day school life. The implementation of Texas’ House Bill 1481 has banned the use of personal cellular devices by students during school hours. As expected, taking the students’ access to their phones away faced much pushback at first. The school year is in full swing, the adjustment period has passed and many students have realized the positive side of the bill.
“At first, I strongly disagreed with the ban,” sophomore Emma Fisher said. “It was a weird adjustment not having them all day, every day, but I think it’s been a positive experience. Students have been talking a lot more instead of having all our attention on our phones and I have felt more focused. I haven’t felt rushed to finish my work just to have a few minutes of free time on my phone. The only thing that’s still hard is not being able to text our parents throughout the day.”