It is a boost when Gov. JB Pritzker turns up at OPRF High School to laud a bold program the school has initiated. That’s what happened last week when the day after Pritzker’s State of the State address included a push to ban cellphones for students during school classes. He came to Oak Park to reinforce his point that cellphones are making teaching and learning harder for all involved and are an active distraction from personal, one-on-one class conversations.
At the urging of a core group of teachers a couple years ago, OPRF created “cellphone homes” in each classroom. Students deposit their phones in the pouches at the start of class and have them back during passing periods and lunch.
So far it is working well. A comment our reporter Bob Skolnik got from a student was that she wished every teacher enforced the policy every day.
