Parents, students react to possible changes to Wake Schools cell phone policy

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- As the Wake County Public School System considers the first major change to its cell phone policy in roughly two decades, ABC11 spoke with parents and students about how they feel educators should police that technology. It comes as the Wake County school board works with outside consultants to put together a new policy that they hope will take effect next school year.

Currently, schools in the WCPSS have their own policies for how to deal with phones in the classroom.

"It's challenging because it would be very helpful, especially to school administrators and teachers, if we had a consistent policy across the district," said Kimberly Mastune.

Matsune has two children in the school district, including a daughter who deals with chronic migraines.

"She has a special device that's activated by her phone that helps her stop a migraine in its tracks," Matsune explained.

Matsune doesn't want social media in the classroom, but it's the worst-case scenario that has her concerned about the unforeseen effects of an all-out cell phone ban in the district.

"If we didn't have her cell phone on her person at school where she could actually use it, she could potentially be in the hospital," she said.

Neither Matsune -- nor her eighth-grader Penny -- oppose a new, uniform policy, but they say that policy should be built on personal responsibility, not bans.

"I think it's really important that we, like, that teachers and admin and our parents trust us to use the things that they've given to us," Penny said.

Matsune added that she believes the onus for responsible phone use should come down on families -- not just schools.

"You shouldn't be driving a car and messing with your phone. And you shouldn't be doing that in a classroom either, because you should be learning or paying attention," she said.

Elsewhere around the district, some parents have safety concerns about what a new policy would mean.

"Without that communication between the parent and the student, there's no way for us to know if our children are safe," said Deanna Hamilton.

Hamilton's daughter is a 17-year-old at the Wake Young Women's Leadership Academy -- and was a student there in November when the school was put on lockdown as police searched for the man charged with firing at several cars on I-40.

"It was a time where I wanted to know where my child was and their school was on lockdown. I wanted to make sure she was safe," Hamilton said.

ABC11 also spoke with Mike Martin with RTI, the consulting firm brought in to help the district analyze what's worked -- and what hasn't -- in other parts of the country. Martin says that overstepping with this sort of policy can create new problems.

"I think one of the things that we discussed in the board meeting that is really important is making sure that we don't this doesn't become about policing cell phones all the time and creating, you know, just a lot of challenges with enforcement," he said.

Parents acknowledge that it's a new landscape for schools and students.

"It's definitely different from when it was when I was in school or when you were in school. But we do what we can, and I think that's all that we can do," Hamilton said.