In May of 2024, Ohio Governor signed House Bill 250 which mandated Ohio schools develop a cell phone policy to restrict phone usage in school. In response, Oak Hills banned the use of cell phones during class. While some teachers are content with this policy, others are in a muddle.
When most people think of art, they picture paint pallets, brushes, crayons, and other supplies but what you usually don’t think of is cell phones; however here at Oak Hills High School one of the most important tools in our art programs are cell phones. At Oak Hills High School, many art courses rely on the use of cellphones to photograph artwork during the artistic process and the final work to upload to a digital portfolio. The use of digital portfolios allow students to easily upload photos of their artwork and fill out a questionnaire about their piece which has become the standard practice for most art classes at Oak Hills.
An issue arises when trying to fit the standard course to this new policy as students are not allowed to use cellphones during class time. According to Travis Hunt, The principle for Oak Hills High School, “Students are not permitted to use cell phones during class periods. This includes the use of headphones or any other electronic devices that could distract from the learning experience.” This information was relayed to students and parents via email sent by Jacquie Matre, The Administrative Assistant at Oak Hills High School. The email also states “Governor DeWine highlighted the negative impact of cell phones on learning and mental health, emphasizing the need for such policies to ensure students can focus on their education without the distraction of their devices.” While there is some negative impact of cell phones, there are also many positives such as their use in art classes as stated previously.
Mrs. Dignan-Cummins, an art teacher at Oak Hills High School, after being asked how she felt about the policy stated, “Heartbroken. I feel students will have their whole life with phones and we should be teaching them the appropriate ways to use them.” Mrs. Dignan-Cummins has many courses she is quite passionate about including 3D AP Studio Art and Design, Ceramics 1, Sculpture, Honors Enamels, Glass and Mosaic, and Honors Fiber arts. Due to the complex curriculum of each class Mrs. Dignan-Cummins needs her students to use cellular devices. Mrs. Dignan-Cummins also claimed: “All of my classes rely on students being able to use their devices to document their work and look at reference images. Cell Phones are built better than the chromebooks for the messy materials of my classes.” Mrs. Dignan-Cummins has expressed her disappointment with the policy due to the struggle it has put on herself and her students, thankfully after speaking with administrators, they came to a compromise of students strictly only being able to use their cellphones to take pictures. One issue with this however is that students are constantly needing to update digital portfolios with progress pictures but every student works at their own pace so each student is on their device at a different time. This is the very first year with a policy like this in place so there is no way of telling how this will impact the quality of the art education here at Oak Hills High School.
