Students may notice a difference in freshmen’s iPads this school year. The new iPad policy: For the Class of 2028 and onward, iPads will be monitored by Saint Ignatius College Prep.

How exactly are the iPads monitored? After interviewing Mr Rosinia, Technology Director at Ignatius, he said, “At a very basic level, we set restrictions on iPads during school hours so that only certain apps are available to students from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.” These new restrictions are set in place to keep students focused and on track during the school day, according to Mr. Rosinia.

While the new iPad policies aim to enhance the focus of freshmen students during school hours, a group of freshmen students claim it harms social interactions with their peers. Naomi Schubkegel expressed how the new iPad policies positively affect her academics, but creates tough challenges in her social life. “I think it helps education wise because everyone’s more focused, but social wise it’s impossible to talk to your friends that you don’t see during the day.” said Schubkegel. A friend of Schubkegel, Haylee Plaehn, expressed her frustration with policies saying they make the iPad’s less useful. Plaehn further explained  how almost all the websites are blocked by the school. “I feel like they should just have messages open so you can text your friends to see what free periods they have,” said Samantha Steinlauf, another freshman in the group. All three students told us ways in which some of their peers bypass these restrictions. Steinlauf noted that Siri can be used to make phone calls, while Schubkegel shared how her peers communicate through sending pictures. Despite many of these restrictions,students can still use their iPads for entertainment purposes after 3 p.m.

When upperclassmen were asked about the issue, they had some thoughts about how the new policy could positively and negatively affect students’ academic and social life. Jose Rios, a senior, said “I think it is unfair to them. High school is about becoming more independent, and you’re just babying them further than they were in middle school.” Rios believes that the new iPad policies hurt new students, as they are forced to do their work, rather than having to make a mature, independent decision of when to do their work. Rios added, “Part of high school was learning how to manage your time and if you’re being told what you can and cannot do, then it defeats the purpose of one of the most important aspects of high school.”

Students seem to have a somewhat negative view of the new policy, but what do teachers think? We interviewed Spanish teacher, Señora Kraus, and asked about her opinions on the new policy. When asked if the new policy helps or hurts students when it comes to their education and social life, she said, “I believe it helps. I know they don’t have access to social media, but the idea is that they socialize with people…They are talking to their classmates like it was in the old times.” Señora Kraus believes that students are less distracted and are actually able to talk to each other. She added: “Sometimes social media actually has the opposite effect because they are so focused that they don’t talk to each other.” Señora Kraus overall has a positive view, believing that the new policy helps students with both their education and social lives.