Staff editorials are the personal opinions of Lotus Leaf members. They do not reflect the views of the administration or student body. Unsigned articles are the opinions of the majority of the staff after discussion. We encourage feedback and letters to the editors.

The new cell phone policy at MHS has caused a flood of emotions from students and many of them aren’t thrilled about the idea of being separated from their phones. However, the new cell phone policy helps more than it’ll harm students in the long run as it helps prevent things such as rumors, and it will help prepare students for the real world.

Allowing students to have their phones while they’re in school has shown in years prior to cause drama. For example, last year there was an incident where bed bugs were found in one of the classrooms. This could be handled by a phone call to families and a simple spray. However, due to the amount of students who had their phones in school, rumors began to spread. Pictures of what was bed bugs supposedly taken in one of the classrooms at Monroe were posted. As it turns out, these pictures were actually pictures taken off of Google. Having these strict rules about phones in school prevents things like this from happening.

 Another thing that this policy will do is prepare students for the real world. In a work environment people aren’t allowed on their phones throughout their work day, just as the policy makes it for students. It teaches students good habits of not reaching for their phones. When people are at work, they only get to go on their phones when they are dealing with something that needs to be taken care of urgently. This should be the case for students at MHS as well. The strictness of this policy will only help students learn proper phone edicate that they’ll use at work.

Some people believe that they shouldn’t have to follow the new policy as it was announced after they had signed the student handbook paper. While it was announced that the school would be strictly enforcing the policy this year, the policy was similar in prior handbooks, although not K-12. The new effort for enforcement now means students will simply have to listen to these rules.

Whether students like the policy or not, if they look objectively at it, there’s some positives to the policy. It will prepare them for life ahead of them and cut down on the amount of rumors. This policy is for the better interest of MHS.