I sat in amazement in the halls of Stanhope Elmore High School earlier this month.
I looked around and saw something I haven’t seen in a while — students didn’t have phones. They were talking with each other and with the school’s faculty and staff.
I noticed it was a little loud, which was something principal Ewell Fuller prepared me for.
If I didn’t know better, I would say I was a high school senior again. Cell phones were only something I saw on The Jetsons some three decades ago.
Speech was the No. 1 form of communication. There were no texts, no Snapchats, no Messenger.
We communicated through folded notes slyly thrown across the classroom. I fondly remember conversations with my teachers at Dadeville, even when I asked smart aleck questions. I’ll never forget asking Mrs. Moncrief, “There are an infinite number of fractions and that means an infinite number of numbers between zero and one. So why are we here if we can’t get to one?”
I got the stare of death as the class snickered. I knew the answer. It’s all theory and we have to live with assumptions.
At Stanhope, it was much of the same — students talking with teachers, asking better questions than mine.
Because of the lack of cell phone use, Fuller says test scores are up for report cards and standardized testings. Teachers have adjusted to the new volume level.
I look back on my time in high school, with no phones of course, and I think many things were better. I don’t recall the bullying to be near the issue I hear parents report to be today.
Fuller and his staff believe removing the cellphones from the equation have lowered cyberbullying in the school.
After the visit to Stanhope I examined my habits more, especially the time I spend on devices.
It got me thinking how much I misinterpret things based on a message or email with a few letters and maybe an emoji.
How much do I overreact on information that is far more inferior than real conversation?
It is a lot of the time, especially if I don’t slow down and think.
What is the solution? It is simple. I need to put the devices down and engage in real conversation more often. The real talk puts things into a better perspective than a quick misread text.
Cliff Williams is the news editor of Tallapoosa Publishers Inc.’s Elmore County newspapers. He can be reached at cliff.williams@thewetumpkaherald.com.
