As the school year wound up, students and teachers commented on the new 2024-2025 cell phone policy that was implemented at the beginning of the school year. The policy prohibited cell phone use in classrooms and other academic spaces such as Advisory and Study Hall.
Cell phone usage is only allowed while walking in the hallway between classes, during lunch and free periods. This typically means that students are required to place their devices in cellphone holders during class time to ensure that they will not be seen, used, or heard but not all classrooms had a holder. However, there will be additional policy changes for the upcoming school year. The library will be cell phone free and students will be required to store devices in designated holders in each classroom at the beginning of every class.
In a survey of student and teacher reactions to the 2024-25 policy, students tended to oppose it while teachers were supportive. Their biggest complaint was the prohibition of cellphones in Advisory, which many students believe doesn’t qualify as an academic space. When necessary, this period is used to make announcements or have the students complete a certain task, but most often, there is nothing they need to do, and it serves only as a 10-minute break between classes.
Another common criticism of the policy from students focuses on the inconvenience of having to put their phone in a designated spot at the beginning of each class and then remembering to grab it when the bell rings at the end of the period. Others simply feel that the policy is an overreach, saying most of their peers are responsible enough to regulate their cellphone use while participating in a learning environment. Other reasons students were unhappy about the policy included their inability to contact parents and to access important information since cell phones can be a learning tool. They also looked at confiscation of their cellphone as a violation of their right to their personal property.
Some students don’t mind
However, there were also plenty of students who don’t have strong feelings about the policy. A few said it hadn’t much affected them, saying that they wouldn’t normally be on their phones during a class anyway. Although they brought up small grievances with some of the problems that the other students highlighted, they acknowledged that the change has been good for teachers, who are receiving the fuller attention and respect of their students, and for students, who cannot be as easily distracted by their peers’ cellphone use.
From the teacher perspective, the change has been great. One teacher reflected back on the frustration she had faced in previous years, constantly having to remind students to stay off of their cellphones. But now, with firm rules set in place and the administration’s enforcement, she acknowledged that controlling student cellphone use has become easier.
Thanks to the cellphone holders installed in most classrooms, students no longer have their devices within arm’s reach and can’t simply dig into their bag to check their phone in the middle of a lesson. This means that teachers can devote more of their energy and class time to teaching rather than badgering students to stay off of their cellphones.
