Due to the recent cell phone ban, students are prohibited from using any sort of communication device, including cellphones, within the school building during the entire school day. However, one has to ask: Are cell phones really a distraction, or can they be used as a tool within the classroom?
Phones can definitely be useful for listening to music whilst doing classwork and taking pictures of notes to study at home. Additionally, having cellphones in class would allow students to easily contact their parents or guardians in case of an emergency at school.
“Before the ban, I would use my phone to take notes and pictures of the things I missed,” junior Effy Zaragoza said.
“Cellphones are helpful because if a student has some sort of emergency at school, they can just call their parents or another trusted adult,” senior Ashlyn Flores said.
It can be said that the students should be given more trust to exhibit responsible cellphone use. Many students argue that the school district should return to the old cellphone policy, as it was more lenient and only prohibited students from using their cellphones during class hours—unless given permission otherwise by the teachers.
“They should have a policy that’s more like the one we had before this whole law thing,” junior Nayely Zamora said. “Also, students should be trusted and given another chance. It’s not fair for people that aren’t really social because some people prefer being alone rather than talking to other students.”
On the contrary, the teachers argue that cellphones do absolutely nothing to improve classroom activity and should remain banned in schools. This is understandable as cellphones tend to distract students from doing their work in class, thus hindering student performance.
“Students should not have cell phones in the classroom,” English teacher Kristal All said. “Students were distracted and often cheated when they were allowed to have cell phones.”
Some teachers say that students should be taught to responsibly manage their time spent on their phones. This would help decrease the amount of students using their phones when they're not supposed to.
“Schools can educate parents more on the harms of cell phone usage for teenagers, especially in school,” mathematics teacher Erica Solomon-Powell said. “If parents understood the severity of the problem, they would have clearer restrictions for their children, and it wouldn't be so hard to enforce school policies with the parents on board.”
We do not know how long this phone ban will last, but if it does get lifted, we hope that the students will be trusted to use their cellphones more responsibly. Until then, stay focused, Tigers!
Written by Chimdiadi Nwamba