The first iPhone was released in 2007, and since then, it has become the most bought piece of technology ever. At this very moment, 83% of teens have a cellphone that they use for around 7-9 hours a day on average, and the reported addiction rate is now at around 37%. With those facts in mind, it’s no wonder that they have become one of the most debated topics in public schools across the country. 8 states including California, Florida, and Virginia all have state-wide phone bans in public schools. These policies aim at lowering the cyber bullying rate and improving students’ mental health. 90% of schools reported having at least one cyber bullying attack happen to a student during the school year 2023-2024 with around 11% saying that it happens daily. These numbers on their own sound scary enough for 31 states to have a piece of legislation introduced in their legislature that would ban or limit phone usage in public schools. However, around 40% of schools that have had a phone ban introduced report a negative impact on student learning and teacher morale.

Looking at this topic objectively, one may think that a ban on phones would significantly improve the overall learning for students. But in the digital age, should schools be banning phones or learning how to utilize them and other technology to help prepare their students for the future? I talked with students and teachers about this topic to get their opinions on the matter. Campbell Way is a sophomore at Hempfield High School. She says that “teachers are embracing technology, but I also like paperwork and physical copies and wish we could use those more.” This raises the interesting question of: Should we as a society stop trying to fix something that has worked for so long? She adds on by saying how she wishes teachers would understand that “while we may be on them during class, we aren’t always doing ‘bad’ things and are sometimes just texting our parents.” I spoke with Mrs. Thompson to get a better understanding of what teachers feel about the matter. Mrs. Thompson has been teaching for 34 years which has allowed her to see the impact that new technology has had on her students. She says that “the problem is having [phones] out when they are not needed or as a distraction.” However, when asked what the benefits of phones are for her, she said “if people ask a question to something that I don’t know the answer to, we can look it up real fast, and students use it to access Schoology while having something else open on their iPads.” While she doesn’t want a school-wide phone ban, she believes in having a school-wide policy rather than it being up to each teacher individually. She also mentioned how she feels that it has made her chemistry classes less fun because “I used to be able to do experiments and cool things, but now [with the internet] they have probably seen everything I will do at ten times the scale.”

Personally, I have experience on both sides of this scale. Coming from a high school that had a cell phone ban while students were in class, I saw the impact it had on students throughout the day. When they would take away the phones for a class, it would lead to people attempting to sneak a look at their phones or trying to find ways to get around the ban. This prompted them to up their policy with harsher rules the following year leading to a never-ending spiral of students and the administration trying to combat one another. On the other hand, Hempfield has no phone limit or ban that is used school-wide. While your teachers may ask you to put your phone away while they teach, oftentimes they let you on your phone during downtime or for the beginning or ending 5 minutes of class. From what I have observed, this leads to students interacting more in the hallways as they don’t feel the need to check the latest news that they have missed over the last 80 minutes. This helps combat the idea that phones limit in-person interaction. When a phone ban was in place, students would spend the 5 minutes they had in between classes furiously typing or scrolling away on their phones, trying to stay up to date throughout the day. This led to fewer students interacting in the hallways and made getting to class fall down their priority list.

Phone bans in schools will continue to be a discussion as long as our technology keeps advancing. The important thing is that schools work hand-in-hand with students to find a happy medium that not only prepares students for the future but also keeps school environments as safe spaces for all.