Controversial Detention Policy

Casey Lyons

Recently there has been a new policy established at Malden High School which allows the school to take away your cell phones whenever you are tardy. In addition to taking the cell phones, they call your parents later on that day to confirm whether or not you really owned a cell phone, and if in fact you have it in your possession. This was a result of students not following the old policy of  reporting to detention whenever tardy for school. The purpose of this new policy is to encourage students to arrive to school on time. Along with cellphones, other valuable things such as ipods, house keys, or a wallet may be taken away for collateral.

Some students feel that this policy is unfair. Freshman Tristar To stated that taking away a student’s cell phone is a “violation of a students’ privacy.” Some believe that the school should not be allowed to take away their cell phones because it is their property and personal belonging. “I really dislike that idea,” explained sophomore Ethan Paiva “I find it so irrelevant  because some people can give them a broken or a phone that is not in-use.” Others think that taking a cell phone away has nothing to do with being late to school and that the school should take a different approach but everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

But is it really unfair? The school would not have to resort to establishing this policy if more students were arriving to school on time and being prepared. Principal Dana Brown said that if students came to school on time “there would be no policy and [they] could probably eliminate detention most days.” Which is true, because the policy is getting more students to come in on time and report to detention when they should. It helps students come in on time and report to detention.

So far the policy has been working with “some bumps” said Brown. The policy is beneficial to some students that come in late though because it helps them come in on time in order to not get anything valuable taken away. But if students want to consider avoiding getting their phones taken away because they are tardy, a few tips to help would be to wake up sooner for school, decide on your outfits for school the night before, or maybe sleeping earlier.