The Impacts of Technology: Should Phones be Banned?

You power on your phone at the end of the school day to see 30 missed calls and a handful of frantic texts from your parent. As per your school’s cell phone policy, your phone was shut off and in your bag for the entirety of the school day, even during your breaks. You were unable to receive the calls and texts alerting you of a family emergency. You didn’t know.

Phone bans are a sad reality spreading across the country. There have been talks throughout the district considering a cell phone ban in high school classrooms, such as the one that is already in place for middle school students. Not only does this pose a potential risk to student well-being and learning, but it also ignores the reality of how intertwined daily scholastic life is with technology. 

The current district policy in place that could be potentially expanded for high schools prohibits the use of phones on campus, during both instructional time and breaks, and requires them to be shut off in a student’s bag until the end of school. If a student is found violating this policy, the phone is sent to the main office to be retrieved at the end of the school day. If caught a second time or third time, the student’s parents must pick it up and the student is punished during their brunch and lunch. For additional offenses, students lose privileges like participating in school activities and may be put on in-school suspension.

Similar policies have been enacted beginning in 2025 in one of the biggest districts in Southern California, LAUSD, which often sets the standard for other districts in the greater LA area. Additionally, the state of California has passed a bill that requires all schools to ban or limit phone use by the 2026-27 school year, called the Phone-Free School Act.

This type of policy creates a host of problems. When a student’s phone is taken away and sent to the office, this cuts off students in the case of tragedy. It is a sad reality that schools and families in the US have to consider the dangers of potential shootings. In the case of such a tragedy, a scared child could be unable to contact their parent, frantic parents wouldn’t be able to determine the wellbeing and safety of their children, and an injured student could be left without a way to call for help. There are too many variables to justify the blanket confiscation of cell phones. This isn’t just a problem with school shootings. Disasters like earthquakes, storms, or other lockdown scenarios are also always possibilities. 

If a student breaks the rules and uses their phone one morning and it is confiscated, that could leave them more vulnerable in the case of these emergencies, and their parents are more likely to react in an unsafe manner such as breaching a locked-down campus in an attempt to reach or aid their child, uncertain whether they will see them again. These types of bans raise anxieties for both students and their parents, which is not conducive to a positive learning environment. Additionally, if there is some sort of family emergency or changes in plans for how a child will get home, the students will be left unaware and parents are left unable to get ahold of their kids.

These types of bans also will affect students with working parents disproportionately. Many students rely on the school bus as a way to get home while their parents are working. If a student is caught on their phone, and they need to retrieve it from the office, that could cause them to miss their bus and get stranded without a safe way home. If they get caught just a few times using their phones, a parent would have to find a way to leave work and pick up the phone from the office, which is something that not all families can afford or feasibly do. 

Many people are quick to bring up the dangers and negative effects of social media usage on student academic performance, and mental health. Should we be prioritizing student academic performance over student well-being? Test scores are never more important than the people they represent. While decreased phone usage could benefit many people, blanket bans are not the solution. They completely disregard the complex relationship people have with their phones. Like it or not, they are a part of modern life.

If there is a problem within a classroom, it should be the teacher’s choice to decide what phone policy best fits them. In no situation should a student’s personal device be removed from the classroom they are sitting in. Some classes regularly utilize cell phones as a learning tool. In AP Chem, we took pictures of agendas. In math, we took pictures of example math problems. In English, we used them to fill out surveys. They consistently make a lot of things far easier in the classroom and can prevent many minutes wasted in the chaotic processes of managing the distribution and cleanup of 30 Chromebooks every class period. It should not be the burden of already overworked teachers to enforce these policies which don’t necessarily even benefit their classroom environment.

At Valencia, cell phone usage is an essential part of club culture. Most clubs have Remind and Google Classroom announcements that help them connect with members and remind them of meetings during school. ASB uses social media to promote school spirit and announce fundraisers. While the world of the internet isn’t perfect, it undeniably has created a novel way for students to communicate with one another.

Personally, I use my phone to study and access digital textbooks at lunch and brunch before my classes. It is insane that school districts are attempting to police how students are spending their free time. Brunch and lunch are when students can unwind, contact their friends and family about lunchtime and afterschool plans, and prepare for their next class. People often cite how students aren’t connecting anymore as they are on their phones at brunch and lunch, but that simply isn’t the case. While the connection might not look the same as it has in years past, it is unfair to disregard it simply for being novel. Phones are one of our best tools for communication. While phones definitely serve as a new challenge for educators, a phone ban is not what is necessary or safe for our students.

Kian De Alwis

9/20/2024

Draft #1

Out with Phones, In with a Better Community

All students have experienced the feeling of having their phone confiscated due to the cell phone policy stated by the teacher at the beginning of the year. Pretty much every student feels angered or annoyed by the fact that they won’t be able to take a photo on Ssnapchat or text their “bestie” every couple of minutes. Little do they know, the more time that young teenagers stay off of their phone, the better they will learn.

70% of high school teachers complain about the massive problem in today’s generation. Phones. These addicting devices have proven to be the enemy of education. With many students constantly being on their phones during learning time, their focus is diverted away from the topic at hand and instead concentrated towards the number of social media followers that they have gained or lost since the morning. 

Some argue that complete phone bans may be harmful because they do prevent key communication with parents, and limit the ability to study topics quickly. However, an all-or-nothing phone ban would not be the route that most schools take. A much more beneficial idea would be to take away phones during class time. This would ensure the ability to effectively communicate with parents during break times, while simultaneously giving students the opportunity to easily access study material on their phone for a quick refresher right before their next exam. With an in-class phone ban, the attentiveness of students would increase exponentially and the quality of work would definitely exceed previous standards. Teachers who have already implemented restrictions on cellphone usage in their classrooms have noticed the difference. They proudly report the effects of phone bans to include more focused students along with a more inclusive and passionate working environment. 

Not only do these devices add distraction and chaos into the life of a student, but they also seem to give adolescents the incentive to bully and exploit their fellow peers. The unfortunate reality is that many students in the modern world have witnessed this first-hand. Many have seen their classmates sending unconsented videos of other students to each other. Many have seen how much a single picture can affect someone else. 

With the addition of phone bans in the classroom, bullying, cyberbullying, and exploitation of others is predicted by many to finally come to an end. This has been a major change that both teachers and students alike have noticed in areas where these much needed policies have been implemented. Students in Indiana have all been amazed by the positive effects of reduced cell phone usage. They have embraced the new policies and have matured in such a way that they have been able to dig deeper to the root cause of why cellphones are such destructive devices in an educational setting. They notice that the addiction to the device correlates with how important they think a new notification could be. Students have even grown to think of their cellphones as toxic to their lives. 

Many teenagers living in areas where cellphone bans have not yet been implemented, already know how much their phone is distracting them and causing problems in a school setting. With a law that regulates the usage of these devices, the thought of taking out their phone will be in the back of students’ minds. This will make the entire journey to a more focused and goal-oriented learning environment much easier because with the added cell phone laws, there will be a significantly greater amount of students that in time, won’t even remember they brought their phone to school. 

Widespread phone bans in schools will clearly boost the learning and focus of students while also contributing to a more socially inclusive, peaceful, and safe environment.