Despite a sea of commotion at the start of the year, the usage of cellphones at North is remarkably similar to previous years, as found through a Prowler survey.

Data was collected through a survey of 118 students during their lunch period as well as voluntary response surveys given to teachers.

Students are using their phones at a high rate during their classes. 62% of students surveyed felt that they were allowed to use their phones in some of their classes. An even higher number of these students stated that they were using their phones against the teacher’s wishes.

“The biggest thing that we want is consistency across the board in what we do, and when 35% of teachers aren’t enforcing it, it’s very troublesome,” said Dean Jim O’Hara.

Many students were outraged at the start of the year when the school began enforcing a no tolerance policy towards cellphones.

“I don’t use it throughout the day, so it doesn’t affect me much,” said Sophomore Jake Fortino. “It would be nice to listen to music, but I’m fine with it.”

Despite the new expectations regarding the policy being made clear to teachers at the start of the year, many of them have allowed phones in their classes.

“I don’t have a problem with it,” said a teacher who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s a matter of independence to allow students to have to take ownership in their education, not to mention the possible benefits it can offer in terms of learning.”

The numbers coming from teachers were, as expected, lower than that of the students. Only 33% of respondents stated that they allowed cellphones during class time. The lower numbers can be partially explained by the nature of a voluntary response survey, as well as the possible discrepancy between whether a teacher is actively allowing phones during class time or merely turning a blind eye to them.

“[The enforcement of the cell phone policy] doesn’t affect me much,” said Sophomore Maddy Leung. “Half of my teachers don’t enforce it so using it isn’t really a problem.”

The one matter that students and staff did agree on was that there was some change regarding cell phone usage from last year. 78% of students surveyed stated that they treated their phone use differently than last year. 54% of teachers said the same.

Teachers are expected to enforce the policy through both evaluations of their teaching as well as the words and complaints of parents, students, and staff members. This could notably cause problems regarding the teachers enforcement of the policy, as reviewing a teachers performance on select days as well as any complaints that might arise does not provide a holistic or representative depiction of the teachers actions.

“In the beginning we have meetings before students arrive and specific deans will meet with some of the teachers and go over some major policies or just go over some of the things that we see,” said O’Hara.

The decision to tighten the enforcement of the cell phone policy was made after the summer due to the problems caused by the lack of consistency in expectations across different teachers.

“Last year we left it up to teacher discretion, which can be a good thing,” said O’Hara. “But it can cause problems because of the lack of consistency. If I can use it during my first period class, but can’t in second, and then can only use it for research in third it creates some unnecessary confusion.”

According to O’Hara, there have been a lower total number of disciplinary incidents among students since the change in policy this year. The consequences for breaking the rules have been raised accordingly, as students now face a detention for their first offense as opposed to a formal warning.

In the fall, a group of students went to the District Board Meeting to protest the changes to the policy. As of this date, word has yet to reach administration regarding a change in the policy for this year. Any decisions regarding next year’s policy will be made over the summer.