Mia:
The new school year brought many new surprises to NVD students, with the most shocking being the ban of wifi to phones. For the first time this year, students are unable to get into the wifi without a password, which they do not have access to. This new policy has both a positive and negative effect on its students.
On one hand, students will be less distracted by their phones, and dedicate more time to studying while in school. In my opinion, the wifi ban has had a positive effect on my productivity while in school, as every time I catch myself getting distracted by my phone, I am abruptly met with sites that won’t load. This then reminds me that I need to focus on my studies.
While in school, it is important to be focused on school work. As students, it is our job to study and learn. We have eight hours a day dedicated to learning, and phones are getting in the way of this. After four years of being a student at NVD, I believe most of my teachers have given me adequate amounts of time to finish my work in class, minimizing homework. However, students have difficulty getting their work done in class when they are constantly distracted by phones. Free time in class to get work done becomes students sitting on their phones, and telling themselves they will get it done later. Without access to wifi, students don’t get distracted in this way and it allows students to get more work done while in school.
It is also important to note that most students have plenty of time to use their phones outside of school and in their own free time. In fact, if students limit their screen time in school, they will be able to get more homework done during school hours, and in turn have more free time after school.
Overall, while it did come as a culture shock to many NVD students this year who were not used to the lack of wifi, I believe that the school does have the best intentions with their students in mind. Students need to shift their perspective on the lack of wifi and try to see it in a more positive way.
Lia:
The overall goal of the wifi block is to help students participate in class, but it’s not keeping students from being distracted, it’s creating frustrating inconveniences.
I agree that it’s better for students to be pushed towards doing their classwork rather than scrolling on TikTok and Instagram. However, rather than being motivated to pay attention in class, students are worried about the fallbacks that come from having no wifi during school hours. Although distraction through social media has somewhat lessened, it has been replaced by students’ anxieties about the repercussions of the service block.
Students’ main concerns about the ban stem from not being able to contact others, including their parents, bosses, and respective clubs and communities. Many students have jobs and activities where communication is necessary in case of time-sensitive or unforeseen circumstances. Maybe your after-school rehearsal was cancelled, and you need to call your parents to pick you up. Maybe your manager texts you that you need to cover a shift last minute. Maybe something came up and you can’t attend a club meeting and need to contact your club president to let them know.
My sister is part of NVD’s Cooperative Business Education (CBE) program, a program that allows students to work during the school day at their part-time jobs. The program requires students to approach it with discipline, commitment, and responsibility. My sister leaves for her job during the school day, and to do that, her forms on Genesis need to be filled out by our parents. On just the first day of school, she was told that they weren’t filled out, but couldn’t contact our parents or her manager at work on her cell phone to let them know. In the end, she used the main office phone, but she was a half-hour late to work. Fortunately, her manager was understanding, but in a different case, other students may not be so lucky. Are situations such as hers worth the attempt to repair students’ attention spans by banning wifi?
While students at NVD definitely need to learn how to try hard and engage in the classroom, blocking the wifi also creates inconvenient problems for responsible students who do their best during school and apply the same mentality for their extracurricular commitments. Getting rid of distractions is a valid goal that should be worked towards, but honest and hardworking students don’t seem to benefit from the change the way others who need it do.
