When I arrived at Hotchkiss (almost three decades ago), the school's rule book was called Blueprints. I loved that name, as it implied we were building something together each year, given a set of plans as a guide. One summer, in consultation with noone, a former head of school changed the name to The Almanac. I'm not a fan, as almanacs give information about the weather or sports results. When that head of school left, I recommended changing the name, but the new administration didn't take my advice. Alas, not everyone sees the world through my eyes. I think it'd be fun to have a competition to come up with a new name, but I can think of several that are better than The Almanac. Since our school's motto is, "Guided by each other, let us seek better paths," wouldn't Field Guide be an improvement? In any case, if you want to read our school's rules, feel free to click on the photo above. Good times.
One of the rules in there for the last two years was that people weren't allowed to use cell phones in community spaces such as the theaters, Chapel, and Dining Hall. This year, we're about to upgrade that rule to prohibit phones anywhere in the Main Building and Science Building. I'm all for encouraging actual, face-to-face interactions and non-virtual engagement wherever and whenever we can. For the past two years, I was one of the people who enforced the rule by asking students to put their phones away.
One day last year, I was sitting two tables away from a pair of Senior boys. Let's call them D and E. E was completely engrossed in his phone. I caught D's eye and motioned to him to ask E to put his phone away. E looked right at D and did nothing until D pointed at me. Only then did E put the phone away.
To be clear, D is a great kid. He was a four-year Senior, proctor, and all-school president. He earned the trust and respect of students and teachers. I wonder why his reminder wasn't enough to get E to follow the rule. I don't love that E needed the threat of my presence and maybe of my confiscating his phone to follow the rule. And to go a step further, I don't love that D didn't think to ask E to put the phone away before I said anything. It shouldn't matter to either of them that I'm nearby.
I'm left with lots of questions:
- Why won't kids take gentle reminders from one another?
- Shouldn't D's direction suffice?
- How can we get kids to buy into rules designed to help them? (Most rules are!)
- What can we do to get buy-in?
- Why won't even our more trusted students step up to promote rule-following?
I wonder, as we head into the 2026-2027 year, if the new, tighter rule will help us have more compliance from students, more teachers monitoring/enforcing, and more in-person socializing. And as I'm in charge of this year's senior class, I wonder if/how I can get them to listen to one another. The 2027s will be leading the school, setting the vibe for the younger students, so I wonder how I can help them model good behavior.
Any suggestions? What do you think gets in the way of the students listening to one another? Please share your responses in the comments.
Might it help to have the Senior presidents & school presidents & presidents of each class & Faculry of each class have an open discussion?
Please include a question about faculty who do not enforce rules.
Good idea. I’ll suggest this! Thanks, cg
Field Guide – yes. Or as a draftsperson and former Hotchkiss parent – back to Blueprints!
I have observed an acceptable level of indifference to others. Plus adolescent discomfort with the transition to authority roles. Ignoring, avoiding is preferrable to correcting, condemning?
Community and individual (mental) health are powerful reasons to put away the phones. Rules help. Engage, request, repeat…
I like that mantra for this year, “Engage, Request, Repeat.” Thanks!
Do the students have any part in developing the rules for the school? For your Seniors, I would offer them a chance to read your essay and have a discussion about all the things you presented.
A bigger concern of mine is why staff are not all on board and supporting one another. It will be interesting to see if students avoid spending down time in the buildings that prohibit the use of phones.
I once worked with a 5th grade teacher who was going to start the school year with a completely empty room and the kids would decide what they needed in the room for the year. I’m not sure he ever did it but what a way for students to buy into deciding what they needed to function in the class.
Why we have the rules that we have is a good starting point.
Why did we have a rule of no candy, food, money at Thoreau?
Your presence does matter to me!!!!(sixwordstory) And you are only 112 miles away!!
Thanks. Yes, I think I’ll promote some discussions about why we have the phone rules, and I’ll hope that more of my colleagues buy in!
You matter to me, too, Stefan. (alsosixwords)