It’s no secret that technology is more prevalent in education today than ever before. From freshman seminar to the Senior Commons, you’d be hard-pressed to find an SCH high schooler without a cell phone on them when they’re not in class. To some students, these phones act as a source of security, giving them instant access to their parents, friends, and even law enforcement in case of an emergency. But to others, their phone can serve as a distraction, preventing them from doing work during the school day and socializing with their friends. As a result, there has been a recent push from some members of the SCH community to prevent students from using cell phones at any point during the school day.
If successful, this initiative wouldn’t be the first time that SCH has made a major change to limit cell phone usage amongst students. Heading into the 2024-2025 school year, administrators made the decision to force all students to place their cell phones in cubbies immediately after entering the classrooms. As a result, students no longer have access to their cell phones at all during their class periods, meaning that distractions are dramatically limited during lectures. But recently, teachers and parents at SCH and schools across the country have introduced limitations that don’t stop when students leave the classroom.
One SCH administrator, junior dean Mr. Bell, noted the positive and negative impacts that could come with a “bell-to-bell” cell phone ban. Considering how often students use their cell phones during the school day, Mr. Bell stated that it “makes me sad, if I’m honest, when I go to the cafeteria and I see an entire table of kids sitting together, but just looking at their phones.”
However, Mr. Bell also pointed out the downsides of not allowing students to use their phones while outside of class. “On the flip side, if we were to go to a bell-to-bell program, we need to have a clear communication of how parents can get involved, get in touch with students.” The lack of direct communication between students and teachers without allowing cell phones is a clear logistical issue that administrators would have to tackle. “Growing up without cell phones, that was the purpose of the front desk,” said Mr. Bell.
Mr. Bell also noted that, importantly, a number of SCH’s competitors across the Philadelphia region have already shifted to bell-to-bell cell phone bans. “Most Inter-Ac schools have a bell-to-bell policy, that you cannot be on your phone from 8 AM to 3 PM,” said Mr. Bell. “And I think there’s a lot, as a dean, that makes sense there. You don’t have to think, does this person have a free period? Or is their teacher letting them use their phone and that type of stuff.”
While this issue is becoming increasingly relevant to SCH students, they’re not the only ones adapting to changes to technology policies. As a result, looking at perspectives from students across the country who attend schools with different policies on cell phone usage can be advantageous. One student, Taylor, attends Assumption High School in Louisville, Kentucky. Describing her school’s phone usage policy, she stated, “If a phone is seen during school, you get three detentions.”
Taylor claims that this strict policy has had a dramatic effect on student life both in and out of the classroom. Inside the classroom, Taylor says not having cell phones, “makes it easier to learn, like kids are talking more, and less distractions, for sure.”
But in an observation more relevant to the proposed changes at SCH, Taylor noted some surprising social effects. “I think it definitely makes our school, in general, be less cliquey and stuff like that. Because personally, if I don’t have any friends at my lunch, I would just go sit in the corner on my phone, but [the cellphone regulation] kind of forces me to go out and meet new people,” she said.
When asked how she would create a cell phone policy if she was in charge of her high school, Taylor described a policy similar to SCH’s current cell phone regulations. “If I was the principal, I think during free periods and lunch, phones should be a choice, because we are in high school, and I think you should be able to manage that yourself,” said Taylor.
Another school that restricts student cell phone usage is Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, Missouri. There, the choice to prevent students from using cell phones didn’t come from the school administration. “Missouri had a strict phone ban. So if you get caught with your phone, you’re basically written up the first time and the second time’s a detention,” described Francis Howell North student Jackson Schneider.
As a result of this statewide ban affecting all public schools across Missouri, Schneider and his peers across the state can’t use their devices at all during the school day. Reflecting on this fact, he said, “I think it’s a little harsh to not be able to have it at lunch or breaks.”
Another student at Francis Howell North High School, Noah Ridling, voiced mixed feelings about the policy. “You could argue that there’s a bit more talking and people just merging,” he said. “But at the same time, people can’t talk to each other on things like Snapchat, texting, texting with their parents, important things that they need to get out that just can’t happen when there’s strict no tolerance for someone.”
When asked how he would design his school’s cell phone policy if he was in the position to do so, Ridling stated that, “ I would definitely find a middle ground. I’d say the tolerance for it shouldn’t be at its max, like you shouldn’t always allow kids to be on their phone. But if it’s not becoming a distraction for the people around you and for your students, and it’s not hindering learning, I think there should be no problem with it, and it should be allowed.”
Unlike their counterparts at Francis Howell North and Assumption, students at Strath Haven High School in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, are allowed to use their phones when they’re not in class. Detailing his school’s policy that looks similar to SCH’s, Strath Haven junior Clark Kerkstra stated that his school’s policy “mandates that all phones in classrooms be put in caddies, but it still allows students to use phones in between classes and during lunch.”
Just like at SCH, though, some believe that the limitations should be extended beyond class periods. When explaining a parent group’s effort to ban phones at the school, Kerkstra stated, “The parents were saying that the cafeteria was silent. But I’m a student that can tell you, the cafeteria was very much not silent.”
Overall, Kerkstra views Strath Haven’s policy in a positive light, stating that if he were in charge, he would “keep what we have right now and allow for a little more teacher control over each individual classroom.”
While Mr. Bell noted that there will certainly be no major changes made to school policy during this school year, students should be on the lookout for potential changes in the coming school years as new research is available.
