On February 27th of 2023, students around the school had discussions surrounding the cell phone policy. The current cell phone policy states that phones may not be used at any point during class without the permission of the teacher, and that if someone uses a cell phone without permission the teacher may confiscate it. Although the students involved in these discussions were all different, many of them came to similar conclusions regarding the policy. 

At the start of the discussion, the teacher asked how we would feel if we didn’t have our cell phones with us. Although some people claimed that they needed their phones and that they would be anxious without them, most of the class said they didn’t care if they had their phone with them or not. However, many of these students who said they “didn’t care” about their phone also admitted to using it in class. An interesting reason behind this is pressure from other people using their cell phones. People said that when they would see others using their phones, they would also feel the need to use it. 

The teacher also asked us what effect enforcing the phone policy would likely have on students. Many students said positive things, such as an increase in grades and class participation as well as teachers being more motivated to teach. Many people also said it would be easier for people to focus more on their classwork. However, some students countered that by saying that people would likely find different distractions. Some even argued that although phones are distracting, they’re one of the “better” distractions because they usually distract only one person at a time. 

A conclusion that most students came to, however, was about the type of punishment students should receive should they violate the cell phone policy. Several students recommended that teachers should at first issue a warning to the student violating the policy. If the student continued to violate the policy, the teacher should be allowed to confiscate their phone. Many people agreed with this approach. 

Although this article reflects the opinions of many students, it obviously can’t accurately represent every student’s thoughts on the cell phone policy. If you have any other insight regarding this matter that you’d like to share, feel free to do so using the comment feature.